HSBC Q1 RESULTS BEAT ANALYST EXPECTATIONS
Lender posts US$5b pretax profit on revenue of US$13b
HONG KONG/LONDON
HSBC Holdings Plc yesterday reported better-than-expected first-quarter profits and capital position, boosting the lender’s share price in Hong Kong as the bank seeks to move from restructuring to growth.
The bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio — a key measure of its financial strength — was 14.3 per cent at the end of the March quarter, up from 11.9 per cent in the same period last year and better than the 13.7 per cent expected by analysts.
HSBC chief financial officer Iain Mackay ruled out a fresh share buyback in the short term as a means of using some of that excess capital, after the bank said it completed its previously announced US$1 billion (RM4.32 billion) share buyback last month.
“We’ve just finished one, we need to catch our breath a little bit,” said Mackay yesterday.
HSBC is expected to receive a further capital boost as it will repatriate some US$8 billion currently stuck in its United States subsidiary, following the Federal Reserve’s approval last year.
HSBC said pretax profit for the first three months of the year fell to US$5 billion, down from US$6.1 billion a year ago but better than the US$4.3 billion expected on average by analysts according to the bank’s own survey.
Revenue in the quarter dropped 13 per cent to US$13 billion.
However, the bank’s adjusted profit before tax, excluding the exceptional items, rose 12 per cent in the quarter to US$5.9 billion. Reuters