Resource Expansion to Drive Earnings; Sulfuric Acid Upside Ahead
发布时间:2026-04-09 来源:华泰证券
We are positive on Jiangxi Copper's value re-rating for the following reasons. 1) As a well-established state-owned copper enterprise, Jiangxi Copper shows robust operations. 2) As a leading smelter adopting pyrometallurgical processes, Jiangxi Copper produces a substantial volume of sulfuric acid as a by-product and is poised to benefit from rising sulfuric acid prices in 2026. 3) We expect the company's ample mine resources could gradually contribute profit going ahead. Maintain BUY.
Core businesses fared well amid price hikes in 2025
Core businesses performed well in 2025. Mined copper output was 269,900 tonnes, rising by 35.15% YoY, primarily because the 2025 figures began including its attributable share from First Quantum Minerals. Excluding this, domestic mined copper output was 200,000 tonnes, basically flat YoY. Mined gold output was 5 tonnes (-10% YoY) and mined silver output was 81 tonnes (+20% YoY), with YoY changes possibly linked to by-product output fluctuations. Cathode copper output was 2.38mn tonnes (+4% YoY) and sulfuric acid output was 7.03mn tonnes (+16% YoY). In 2025, major products benefited from rising prices, with LME copper/SHFE gold/SHFE silver/domestic sulfuric acid prices climbing by 29/36/117/62% YoY. Despite a notable YoY increase in asset impairments and negative fair value adjustments (associated with mark-to-market losses from open hedging positions), total profit rose by 11% YoY to RMB10,200mn in 2025.
Supplementary provision for annual income tax dented results
In November 2023, the company was jointly awarded the High and New Technology Enterprise (HNTE) Certificate by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Jiangxi Provincial Department of Finance, and Jiangxi Provincial Tax Bureau of the State Taxation Administration, valid for three years (2023-2025). However, upon reassessment in 2025, the company concluded that it no longer met the HNTE criteria (eg, R&D expenses should account for at least 3% of revenue). Therefore, it applied a 25% tax rate for 2025 (compared to 15% in 2024). As a result, the company recognized a catch-up income tax provision, reporting income tax expenses of RMB1,346mn in 4Q25 (1Q25/2Q25/3Q25 income tax expenses: RMB414/591/337mn). This capped attributable net profit at RMB7,130mn (+2.41% YoY). In addition, the company's 2025 dividend payout ratio was 48.42%, significantly higher than the levels in the previous five years.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
Considering that liquidity easing exceeded our expectations, we raise 2026/2027 copper, gold and silver price assumptions. The company's 2025 cathode copper trading volume reduction exceeded our expectation, so we lower 2026/2027 cathode copper trading revenue estimates. We now forecast 2026/2027/2028 attributable net profit at RMB13,282/14,139/14,570mn (+60%/+48%/- vs previous estimates). We value the A-share at 13.2x 2026E PE, in line with its peers' average on Wind consensus. Applying an average A-/H-share premium of 43% over the past month, we derive our A-/H-share target prices of RMB50.59/HKD40.20 (previous: RMB35.50/HKD26.50, based on 15.0x 2025E PE). Maintain BUY.
Risks: commodity price fluctuations; uncertainties over the Middle East tensions.