CLSA issued a research report stating that PETROCHINA (00857) demonstrated better-than-expected resilience in its second quarter results, with its profit decline outperforming China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (00386). The firm raised its H-share target price from HK$8.0 to HK$8.6, and its A-share (601857.SH) target price from RMB 11.2 to RMB 11.9, maintaining an "Outperform" rating for both.

Apart from the chemical business, the divergent sales volume trends between the two companies in the second quarter are worth noting, with the firm expecting such differences may further widen in the coming quarters. The dividend payout ratio increased by 6 percentage points year-over-year to 48%, once again outperforming Sinopec, which is expected to be well-received by the market.

The firm's industry preference ranking is PETROCHINA, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (00883), and Sinopec.