Reuters UPDATE - Banks urge buyers to steer clear of China Life Thursday February 5, 4:32 am ET By Tony Munroe
(Updates with other research reports, details) HONG KONG, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Big investment banks are telling buyers to steer clear of China Life Insurance Co Ltd (HKSE:2628.HK - News; NYSE:LFC - News), whose stock price nearly doubled following its $3.5 billion December IPO.
ADVERTISEMENT Shares in the mainland's biggest life underwriter slipped 3.7 percent on Thursday to HK$5.20 as investors worried about findings of accounting irregularities at its predecessor firm and a phalanx of investment banks said the stock was overpriced.
"We like it, but just not at this price," JP Morgan wrote in a note that rates the stock "neutral" and recommends buying back in at HK$4.63.
China Life shares still trade 45 percent above their HK$3.59 offer price in what was the world's biggest IPO of 2003.
Merrill Lynch started coverage of China Life on Thursday at "neutral" and was upbeat in its note.
It said that while the firm's valuations are expensive relative to global peers, "they do not look overly stretched in light of the company's strong growth potential in our opinion."
China Life trades at a price to book ratio of roughly 2.5 times, versus 1.67 times for its U.S. peers, Citigroup said.
Citigroup, one of China Life's underwriters, started coverage this week with a "sell" rating and price target of HK$4.50.
Other banks also said the stock was too expensive. Of eight recommendations compiled by Reuters Research, none is a "buy".
Fellow sponsor Credit Suisse First Boston initiated coverage with an "underperform" rating and a price target of HK$4.44, while another underwriter, Deutsche Bank, rates the stock "hold".
Banks that mentioned the accounting flap said they did not expect China Life would suffer any material damage.
Market insiders said the episode underscores the risks associated with investing in China, and could cool the mania foreign buyers hold for IPOs from mainland firms.
"It just seems that China stock prices carry a premium for growth with no offsetting discount for the fact that it is still an emerging market," JP Morgan wrote in its note.
The Hong Kong and New York-listed company was formed in June 2003 as a vehicle to cherry pick the healthiest policies from China's largest life underwriter. The audit report citing accounting irregularities involving 5.4 billion yuan (US$652 million) covers a period up to 2002.
Beijing is expected to carve out non-performing assets when it lists its big, bad debt-laden lenders, starting with China Construction Bank's IPO targeted for later this year.
Sceptics say that while separating bad assets from good protects shareholders in the near-term, it does not necessarily scrub a company of poor business practices.
Fox-Pitt, Kelton said it did not expect China Life to suffer any financial fallout from the audit at its predecessor firm, but warned: "We continue to be concerned about the effectiveness of its internal audits and risk control systems in avoiding future occurrence of such slippage."
It rates China Life "underperform." Another broker, Cazenove, has a "reduce" rating and Lehman Brothers rates China Life "underweight" with a HK$5.12 target.
(US$=HK$7.8=8.28 yuan)
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