Crown-Czech technology is up 7% or is expected to be boosted by earnings recovery

Crown-Czech technology rose markedly this morning and was not dragged down by a sharp decline in first-quarter earnings, with shares now up 6.93% to HK $3.24 and trading 1.912 million shares. As the company reported first-quarter net profit fell 67% to 14.9 million dollars from a year earlier, as a result of the downturn in the personal computer monitor market led to lower product prices; Revenue in the first quarter was also down 42% to $1.38 billion.　　But the company's performance was markedly better than in the fourth quarter of last year (with a net loss of $30.9 million in the fourth quarter last year) and the business environment may gradually improve, and the company expects the display and TV panel prices to continue to rise steadily, encouraging earnings to rebound. CIMB, a report, said it maintained the shares stronger than the broad-market rating, with a target price of HK $3.7, equivalent to 0.7 times times the price and book value, a 14% premium over the market. It is expected that its 2009 fourth-quarter business recovery, as well as further improvements in cash flow and balance sheets, will provide a price catalyst. Said the company's first-quarter profit was 17% per cent higher than expected, and free cash flows remained strong, prompting net debt entitlements to fall 0.1 times times from 0.31 times times the end of December.