Impact of High Oil Prices to Surface in 2Q26
发布时间:2026-04-28 来源:华泰证券
China Merchants Expressway's(CMET)1Q26 revenue was RMB3,557mn(+26.90%YoY),attributable net profit(NP)was RMB1,349mn(+1.50%YoY),and net operating cash flow was RMB1,221mn(-9.85%YoY).CMET's 1Q26 attributable NP was robust and in line with our estimate of RMB1,320mn.Recently,in the context of relatively loose liquidity,the yield of 10-year China Government Bonds(CGB)fell from ahigh of 1.82%in early April to 1.76%,which boosted the valuation of high-dividend names.The company promised that cash dividend payouts for 2025-2027 will not be less than 55%of attributable NP minus the perpetual bond coupon.With this in mind,we estimate CMET's 2026 dividend yield at 4.0%.After the previous share price correction,the company's valuation has become attractive,in our view.Maintain BUY.
Controlled road sections:weaker profit vs invested ones
For 1Q26,operating revenue/operating costs grew by 26.9/48.0%YoY,which we attribute to aJingjintang Expressway expansion&reconstruction project,and the recognition of alarge amount construction business revenue and costs(gross profit of the construction business is zero).For 1Q26,net operating cash flow slid 9.85%YoY,indicating that toll revenue from the controlled road sections may have declined YoY.For 1Q26,gross profit fell by 9.97%YoY to RMB920mn,mainly because half of Jingjintang Expressway's lanes were closed for expansion and reconstruction in November 2025.As aresult,traffic volume may have suffered asharp decline.The company's investment income mainly comes from equity-participation listed expressway companies.For 1Q26,investment income climbed 6.0%YoY to RMB1,248mn(or 93%of its attributable NP),mainly as the overall profitability of the highway sector improved in 1Q26,and the company optimized its stakes in listed firms.In 2025,CMET increased its holdings in Shenzhen Expressway(H-share),Jiangsu Expressway(H-share),and Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure,and its equity-participation Zhijiang holding platform acquired Guisan Expressway.For 1Q26,financial expenses fell 6.0%YoY to RMB338mn,which we attribute to declining market interest rates and debt optimization.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
To factor in the relatively fast growth rate of investment income from listed highway companies in 1Q26,we slightly raise our 2026/2027/2028 attributable NP forecast by 0.7/2.1/1.2%,bringing it to RMB4,801/4,866/4,685mn.We still base our valuation on the SOTP model and raise our target price to RMB12.20(previous:RMB11.80).Specifically,we apply the DCF model to value controlled and equity-participation expressway assets with an equity IRR of 6.5%and adebt IRR of 2.8%(previous:equity IRR of 6.5%and debt IRR of 3.0%).We apply the mark-to-market(MTM)model to CMET's stakes in listed highway assets.We value the transportation technology/intelligent transportation/transportation ecology segments at 14.8x 2026E PE(previous:14.1x 2026E PE)based on their peers'average on Wind consensus.We continue to apply a20%premium to the total valuation of the above three segments to reflect the company's excellent reinvestment capability.