Profit Under Pressure, But Dividend Yield Already Attractive
发布时间:2026-04-10 来源:华泰证券
China Merchants Expressway(CMET)has posted 2025 revenue of RMB13.4bn(+5.1%YoY),an attributable NP of RMB4.6bn(-13.4%YoY),a recurring NP of RMB4.5bn(-6.8%YoY),and an operating cash flow of RMB6.5bn(-8.6%YoY).For 1Q25,2Q25,3Q25,and 4Q25,the attributable NP was RMB1.3bn(+2.7%YoY),RMB1.2bn(-17%YoY),RMB1.5bn(+3.9%YoY),and RMB598mn(-48.5%YoY),respectively.For 2025,the attributable NP of RMB4.6bn was below our estimate of RMB5.3bn,mainly reflecting weak truck traffic in 4Q25,lower-than-expected profit from associates,and impairment provisions.The company proposes to distribute RMB0.373/share,tax included,equal to 55%of its 2025 attributable NP,implying adividend yield of 4.1%.After the recent share price pullback,the dividend yield has become attractive.Maintain BUY.
Traffic volume and toll revenue both declined in 2025
In 2025,traffic volume and toll revenue on the company’s controlled road sections fell by 1.8%and 3.8%YoY,respectively,excluding Bofu Expressway.Economic factors,traffic diversion,and differentiated toll policies were the main reasons.Toll revenue on the Yongtaiwen,Jingjintang,and Jingtai expressways changed by-8.4%,-0.2%,and 0%YoY,respectively.The company mainly derives investment income from listed expressway companies in which it holds stakes.Investment income reached RMB2.4bn in 1H25(+0.3%YoY)and RMB2.1bn(-20.8%YoY)in 2H25,respectively.These amounts accounted for 94%and 100%of attributable NP,respectively.The decline in 2H25 investment income mainly reflected aRMB570mn disposal gain recorded in 2024 from the issuance of the Bofu Expressway REIT.Due to lower LPR rates and debt optimization,the company cut financial expenses by 15%YoY in 2025.In addition,the company booked RMB147mn of asset impairment losses and RMB86mn of credit impairment losses for the investment and operations segment.As aresult,the net profit in the investment and operations segment fell by 17%YoY in 2025.Excluding the Bofu Expressway disposal gain and impairment losses,the recurring NP in the investment and operations segment fell by 7%YoY.
Holdings in listcos were optimized,expansion projects started
On road investment and M&A,the company increased its holdings in Shenzhen Expressway-H,Jiangsu Expressway-H,and Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure in 2025.It also injected additional capital into Guangjing Xicheng Company.The Zhijiang Holding platform,in which the company owns astake,acquired Guisan Expressway.Meanwhile,the company reduced its holding in Anhui Expressway.On road expansion and reconstruction,investment progress for the Jingjintang Expressway expansion had reached 9.72%by end-2025,and the expansion project for the southern section of Yongtaiwen Expressway has been submitted for approval.Along the road industry chain,the transportation technology,intelligent transportation,and transport ecology businesses turned profitable in 2025,with the combined net profit reaching RMB34mn.Excluding impairment effects,the recurring NP from the three businesses rose by 43%YoY to RMB174mn.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
Considering the impact of high oil prices and the risk of impairment on existing road assets,we revise down our attributable NP estimates for 2026E and 2027E by 10.1%and 9.3%to RMB4.8bn and RMB4.8bn,respectively.We also introduce our 2028E forecast of RMB4.6bn.We continue to use asum-of-the-parts valuation and lower our target price to RMB11.80 from RMB12.00.For associate-held and controlled expressway assets,we apply aDCF valuation using an equity IRR of 6.5%and cost of debt of 3.0%,unchanged from before.
Risks:travel demand may be weaker than we expect;economic growth may slow;toll standards may be lowered;capital expenditure may exceed our expectations.