HK Stock Market Move | FWD (01828) rises nearly 6% again as business growth accelerates in the first half of the year. Credit Suisse believes the valuation is attractive.

FWD (01828) has temporarily recorded six consecutive gains, with a cumulative increase of nearly 20%. As of the time of writing, it has risen by 4.46%, priced at 32.8 Hong Kong dollars, with a transaction volume of 37.8674 million Hong Kong dollars. In terms of news, FWD recently released its interim results, showing that new business sales, calculated based on annualized new premiums, increased by 7% year-on-year to 1.35 billion USD. The marginal service value of new business contracts stood at 996 million USD, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 25%. After-tax operating profit rose by 20% to 298 million USD. Friedman released a research report stating that FWD's business growth accelerated in the first half of the year, gross margin improved, and operational leverage continued to show. Hong Kong demand remains resilient. Although economic fluctuations still pose a drag, core business performance was better than expected. The bank believes FWD's valuation is attractive and raises the target price from 37.4 HKD to 40.9 HKD, reiterating its "Buy" rating.