Earnings Update: China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (HKG:291) Just Reported Its Interim Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Forecasts

Shareholders might have noticed that China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (HKG:291) filed its half-year result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 7.5% to HK$22.10 in the past week. It was a credible result overall, with revenues of CN¥24b and statutory earnings per share of CN¥1.57 both in line with analyst estimates, showing that China Resources Beer (Holdings) is executing in line with expectations. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on China Resources Beer (Holdings) after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for China Resources Beer (Holdings)

Following last week's earnings report, China Resources Beer (Holdings)'s 36 analysts are forecasting 2024 revenues to be CN¥39.4b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to rise 2.4% to CN¥1.64. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of CN¥39.4b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN¥1.80 in 2024. So it looks like there's been a small decline in overall sentiment after the recent results - there's been no major change to revenue estimates, but the analysts did make a small dip in their earnings per share forecasts.

The consensus price target held steady at HK$37.54, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values China Resources Beer (Holdings) at HK$63.20 per share, while the most bearish prices it at HK$26.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that China Resources Beer (Holdings)'s revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 3.1% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 4.3% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 8.6% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than China Resources Beer (Holdings).

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at HK$37.54, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple China Resources Beer (Holdings) analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

We also provide an overview of the China Resources Beer (Holdings) Board and CEO remuneration and length of tenure at the company, and whether insiders have been buying the stock, here.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.