Property, bank and gaming stocks brace for earnings in Hong Kong market

A flurry of important interim results are due later on Thursday. Stocks in the property, bank, and gaming sectors may see big earnings moves.

• Swire Pacific , a Hong Kong-based real estate developer, rose 0.6 per cent to HK$91.75 on Thursday morning. The company is due to release its half-year results at noon and hold a press conference at 4pm. Analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch previously expected Swire Pacific to report an underlying profit of HK$3.15 billion for the first six months of the year, down 19 per cent from the same period last year.
• Country Garden , one of the largest residential developer in China, advanced 1.5 per cent to HK$3.45 in morning trading. Half-year results are set to come out at noon, followed by a press briefing at 4.15pm. Analysts polled by SCMP estimated its core earnings may be between 4.1 billion yuan to 4.6 billion yuan, down 7 per cent to 10 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

• China Merchants Bank ,China’s sixth largest commercial lender by assets, climbed 1.6 per cent to HK$18.84. Half-year earnings are expected later on Thursday. Preliminary figures released by the bank showed net income increased 6.8 per cent to 35.2 billion yuan in the first six months of the year.
• Wynn Macau ,a Macau casino operator, dropped 0.5 per cent to HK$12.38, before the release of its half-year results later in the afternoon. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) may reach HK$2.28 billion, slightly down from the HK$2.55 billion in the first half of last year.
• China Resources Power retreated 0.5 per cent to HK$13.4. Interim results of the state-owned energy firm are expected to come out later in the day.
• Geely Automobile Holdings pulled back after recent gains and declined 1.5 per cent to HK$5.75. The Chinese auto maker’s interim results are also due later on Thursday. Analysts from Morgan Stanley expected its earnings to increase 25 per cent year-on-year to approximately 1.7 billion yuan.
• Lenovo Group , the world’s leading personal computer maker, jumped 3.2 per cent to HK$5.52 on Thursday morning. Earlier in the day, the company reported that its net profit increased 64 per cent year-on-year to US$173 million in the fiscal first quarter ended June, well above market estimates.