One of the largest European lenders, HSBC, on Tuesday, April 29, published information on the financial results of its operations for the first quarter of the current year, which exceeded preliminary expectations due to the robust performance of its wealth business, and strength in its corporate and institutional banking segment.
HSBC also announced a share buyback of up to $3 billion. The bank intends to complete the relevant process before the announcement of interim results for 2025.
The revenue of the financial institution for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $17.65 billion mark. This indicator showed a decrease of 15% compared to the reading for the same period in 2024. At the same time, the bank expected its revenue for the first three months of 2025 to reach $16.67 billion.
The profit of the financial institution before tax for January-March of the current year was recorded at the $9.48 billion mark. This indicator showed a decrease of 25% compared to the reading for the first quarter of 2024. The bank expected its profit before tax to reach $7.83 billion in January-March 2025. It is worth noting separately that the pre-tax profit of a financial institution in the first three months of the current year increased by 317% compared to the figure for the previous quarter.
HSBC Group chief executive officer Georges Elhedery stated that the bank’s strong results for January-March 2025 demonstrate momentum in its earnings, discipline in the execution of its strategy, and confidence in its ability to deliver its targets.
At the same time, the financial institution warned of increased macroeconomic uncertainty. In this context, it was separately noted that the protectionist trade policy is a factor of negative impact on consumer and business sentiment.
Manyi Lu, DBS Bank’s equity research analyst, said in a media comment that despite the uncertainty in global trade, progress in restructuring HSBC should continue to bring positive impacts on cost-saving. At the same time, the expert noted that there may be some headwinds from tariffs and concerns about a global recession, but the effect will be more prominent in the coming quarters.
It is worth noting that the information published on Tuesday by HSBC does not fully reflect the impact of the sweeping tariffs that were imposed by the administration of the President of the United States Donald Trump in the first half of the current month. However, the entry into force of these measures of Washington’s trade policy has been suspended. At the same time, tariffs on steel, aluminum, and autos have been in effect since March.
Manyi Lu said investors should keep an eye on whether HSBC will lower its guidance going forward amid tariff uncertainty. It was also noted that in this case, the degree of impact will depend on how the levy for ASEAN countries will go after the 90-day grace period announced by Donald Trump.
Morningstar’s senior equity analyst Michael Makdad stated that the additional $3 billion buyback exceeded the $2 billion figure that the company had predicted. Also, the results of the financial institution turned out to be better than the preliminary expectations of this expert.
Media reports say Georges Elhedery was among four chief executive officers of United Kingdom banks who urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer to scrap the country’s ring-fencing rules. Ring-fencing involves isolating a lender’s consumer banking business from its riskier investment banking activities.
In October, HSBC announced a restructuring plan to split its operations into four units, generating separate Eastern markets and Western markets sectors. The financial institution also stated that this process will allow it to reduce about $300 million in costs.
The bank expects severance and other up-front costs of $1.8 billion over 2025 and 2026.
The value of shares of a financial institution during trading in Hong Kong showed an increase of 1.5%.
HSBC predicts benefits from the continued increase in consumption and trade within and between Asia and the Middle East.
As we have reported earlier, HSBC Launches New Platform.
