Morgan Stanley: Raises SITC (01308) earnings forecast for 2025-2027, raises target price to HK$23.4, maintains "in line with market" rating.

Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that SITC (01308) has raised its earnings forecast for the years 2025-2027 by 23%, 28%, and 24% respectively. Therefore, the target price for the group has been raised by 24%, from HK$18.8 to HK$23.4. Due to SITC's low cost, high quality services, and focus on the Asian domestic market, Morgan Stanley believes that the group's profit margin will continue to perform well. They maintain their "in line with the market" rating on it and expect SITC to remain profitable during the downturn in the container shipping cycle. The report states that the strong demand and decreased supply efficiency of SITC in the previous period have led to a stronger performance in container shipping in the first half of this year than expected. However, the normalization of the long-haul market may have a negative impact on the Asian domestic market. In the field of container shipping, the bank expresses a relative optimism towards SITC and maintains a cautious attitude towards it.