What Do Analysts Think About The Future Of China Everbright International Limited's (HKG:257)?

On 31 December 2018, China Everbright International Limited (HKG:257) announced its earnings update. Overall, it seems that analyst forecasts are fairly optimistic, with earnings growth rate expected to be 25% in the upcoming year, relative to the past five-year average earnings growth of 24% per year. With trailing-twelve-month net income at current levels of HK$4.3b, we should see this rise to HK$5.4b in 2020. Below is a brief commentary around China Everbright International's earnings outlook going forward, which may give you a sense of market sentiment for the company. For those keen to understand more about other aspects of the company, you can research its fundamentals here.

View our latest analysis for China Everbright International

Can we expect China Everbright International to keep growing?

The 18 analysts covering 257 view its longer term outlook with a positive sentiment. Since forecasting becomes more difficult further into the future, broker analysts generally project out to around three years. To understand the overall trajectory of 257's earnings growth over these next fews years, I've fitted a line through these analyst earnings forecast to determine an annual growth rate from the slope.

SEHK:257 Past and Future Earnings, April 22nd 2019
SEHK:257 Past and Future Earnings, April 22nd 2019

This results in an annual growth rate of 17% based on the most recent earnings level of HK$4.3b to the final forecast of HK$7.3b by 2022. This leads to an EPS of HK$1.19 in the final year of projections relative to the current EPS of HK$0.86. Margins are currently sitting at 16%, which is expected to expand to 17% by 2022.

Next Steps:

Future outlook is only one aspect when you're building an investment case for a stock. For China Everbright International, I've compiled three important aspects you should further research:

  1. Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.

  2. Valuation: What is China Everbright International worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether China Everbright International is currently mispriced by the market.

  3. Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of China Everbright International? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.