Goldman Sachs: Maintains "Buy" rating on Jiangxi Copper (00358) with a target price of 21.8 Hong Kong dollars.

Goldman Sachs released a research report stating that Jiangxi Copper (00358) performance in 2024 met expectations, and maintained a buy rating. As a pure copper concept stock, the bank expects Jiangxi Copper to continue benefiting from high copper prices, with regular net profit maintained in the range of 8.8-9.0 billion yuan. Due to the majority of its major mining assets being located in China, Jiangxi Copper is less affected by geopolitical risks. Based on historical ranges, its H shares valuation is quite attractive, with an expected P/E ratio of 5 for 2025. Based on the relative valuation of Jiangxi Copper's H/A shares, the bank maintains its target price at 21.8 Hong Kong dollars. The report mentioned that Jiangxi Copper (JXC) announced a net profit of 6.9 billion yuan for 2024, with earnings per share of 2.0 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2-3%. Excluding one-time projects (mainly fair value losses related to hedging), regular net profit was 8.3 billion yuan, a 26% year-on-year increase, in line with the bank's expectations and exceeding institutional expectations. The company announced a dividend of 0.698 yuan for 2024, with a payout ratio of over 35%. The bank lowered its profit forecast for 2025 by 2%, raised it by 28% for 2026, incorporating the latest copper price forecast from the global commodity team and investment income from FirstQuantum (FM).