Global Mobility/Transport, Equity Long-Short

Mohshin Aziz

Equity Bottom-Up

Cathay Pacific Airways / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>1HFY24 net profit declined -15% YoY to HK$3.4 billion, in-line with consensus </li>
<li>Interim dividend of HK$0.20/share, at 38% payout ratio. Typically, Cathay pays 50% payout ratio, and we can expect final dividend to be much larger</li>
<li>Maintain BUY with target price of HK$9.90 (+26% UPSIDE) implies 10x FY2024 PE, parity multiple against its arch-rival Singapore Airlines (SIA SP). </li>
</ul>


1HFY24 net profit declined -15% YoY to HK$3.4 billion, in-line with consensus 
Interim dividend of HK$0.20/share, at 38% payout ratio. Typically, Cathay pays 50% payout ratio, and we can expect final dividend to be much larger
Maintain BUY with target price of HK$9.90 (+26% UPSIDE) implies 10x FY2024 PE, parity multiple against its arch-rival Singapore Airlines (SIA SP). 


Cathay Pacific (293 HK, BUY, TP:9.90HKD): Decent Results, Stay the Course

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

<ul>
<li>Outbound travel recovery remains sluggish, activity still far below 2019 levels</li>
<li>Domestic activity up 5% Y/Y in June, now well above pre-Covid levels</li>
<li>Trip.com gaining share during extended recovery, trades on 14x PER, BUY</li>
</ul>


Outbound travel recovery remains sluggish, activity still far below 2019 levels
Domestic activity up 5% Y/Y in June, now well above pre-Covid levels
Trip.com gaining share during extended recovery, trades on 14x PER, BUY


Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Sluggish, but Trip.com Too Cheap | (July 2024)

<ul>
<li>Operations are on track with earlier guidance given during FY23 results, loads and yields are healthy, with UK and North American performing better than expected  </li>
<li>Will buyback and cancel remaining 97.7m preference shares for a sum of HKD10b by end of July 2024. Shareholder dilution has been avoided  </li>
<li>Cathay Pacific is a value BUY, our target price of HK$9.90 (+24% UPSIDE) implies 10x FY2024 PE, parity multiple against its arch-rival <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/singapore-airlines-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:74:1" rel="noopener">Singapore Airlines (SIA SP)</a> </li>
</ul>


Operations are on track with earlier guidance given during FY23 results, loads and yields are healthy, with UK and North American performing better than expected  
Will buyback and cancel remaining 97.7m preference shares for a sum of HKD10b by end of July 2024. Shareholder dilution has been avoided  
Cathay Pacific is a value BUY, our target price of HK$9.90 (+24% UPSIDE) implies 10x FY2024 PE, parity multiple against its arch-rival Singapore Airlines (SIA SP) 


HK/China Equity Long-Short

Osbert Tang, CFA

<ul>
<li>With more foreign countries being granted visa-free visits to China, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cathay-pacific-airways-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:243:1" rel="noopener">Cathay Pacific Airways (293 HK)</a> will benefit from more transfer traffic via Hong Kong.</li>
<li>Recovery is decent with passenger traffic rising 37.5% in 5M24. CX's capacity already returned to 80% of pre-pandemic in 2Q24, and this will reach 100% in 1Q25. </li>
<li>YTD, CX is still a laggard relative to many global airlines. Its P/B valuation is not stretched at 0.8x, given ROE of 11% over the next 3 years.  </li>
</ul>


With more foreign countries being granted visa-free visits to China, Cathay Pacific Airways (293 HK) will benefit from more transfer traffic via Hong Kong.
Recovery is decent with passenger traffic rising 37.5% in 5M24. CX's capacity already returned to 80% of pre-pandemic in 2Q24, and this will reach 100% in 1Q25. 
YTD, CX is still a laggard relative to many global airlines. Its P/B valuation is not stretched at 0.8x, given ROE of 11% over the next 3 years.  


Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Multiple Positive Developments

<ul>
<li>Growth of outbound Chinese travel demand strong in May as HK, Macau slow</li>
<li>Domestic travel demand also showed solid growth in May and early June</li>
<li>Trip.com appears reasonably cheap now that it's dipped below US$50, BUY</li>
</ul>


Growth of outbound Chinese travel demand strong in May as HK, Macau slow
Domestic travel demand also showed solid growth in May and early June
Trip.com appears reasonably cheap now that it's dipped below US$50, BUY


Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Expands | Domestic Solid Too | (June 2024)

Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited operates scheduled airline services. The Company also provides related services, including airline catering, aircraft handling, and engineering.

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Cathay Pacific Airways (293 HK)

Cathay Pacific (293 HK, BUY, TP:9.90HKD): Decent Results, Stay the Course

Cathay Pacific's 1HFY24 performance slowed but was within expectations. Results are respectable and valuations remain attractive. Maintain BUY...

Mohshin Aziz

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Sluggish, but Trip.com Too Cheap | (July 2024)

Outbound Chinese travel demand continued its sluggish recovery in June, but remains far below 2019 levels. Tourism-linked shares have performed...

Tracking Traffic

Cathay Pacific (293 HK, BUY, TP:HKD):

Cathay Pacific's operations are exceeding expectations, plans to buyback preference shares and is considered a value buy with a target price of...

Mohshin Aziz

Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Multiple Positive Developments

As more countries gain visa-free access to China, CX will benefit from increased transfer traffic. CX's recovery is on track with passenger...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Expands | Domestic Solid Too | (June 2024)

May outbound Chinese travel demand was strong, apparently driven by tourists shifting flying outside the Asian region. Domestic demand growth also...

Tracking Traffic

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Cathay Pacific (293 HK, BUY, TP:9.90HKD): Decent Results, Stay the Course

​Cathay Pacific's 1HFY24 performance slowed but was within expectations. Results are respectable and valuations remain attractive. Maintain BUY...

Mohshin Aziz

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Sluggish, but Trip.com Too Cheap | (July 2024)

Outbound Chinese travel demand continued its sluggish recovery in June, but remains far below 2019 levels. Tourism-linked shares have performed...

Tracking Traffic

Cathay Pacific (293 HK, BUY, TP:HKD):

​Cathay Pacific's operations are exceeding expectations, plans to buyback preference shares and is considered a value buy with a target price of...

Mohshin Aziz

Cathay Pacific (293 HK): Multiple Positive Developments

​As more countries gain visa-free access to China, CX will benefit from increased transfer traffic. CX's recovery is on track with passenger...

Osbert Tang, CFA

Monthly Chinese Tourism Tracker | Outbound Recovery Expands | Domestic Solid Too | (June 2024)

May outbound Chinese travel demand was strong, apparently driven by tourists shifting flying outside the Asian region. Domestic demand growth also...

Tracking Traffic

Cathay Pacific's 1HFY24 performance slowed but was within expectations. Results are respectable and valuations remain attractive. Maintain BUY...

Cathay Pacific's operations are exceeding expectations, plans to buyback preference shares and is considered a value buy with a target price of...

As more countries gain visa-free access to China, CX will benefit from increased transfer traffic. CX's recovery is on track with passenger...