HSBC’s warning of interest rate woes

Lender plans to rethink its strategy

BUSINESS: One of the world’s biggest lenders has warned that record- low interest rates could provide challenges for the banking sector in the long term, as it plans to re- think strategy.

HSBC said its revenue had dropped by 11 per cent to $ 11.9bn (£ 9.2bn) in the third quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2019.

ONE OF the world’s biggest lenders has warned that record- low interest rates could provide challenges for the banking sector in the long term, as it plans to rethink its strategy.

HSBC said its revenue had dropped by 11 per cent to $ 11.9bn (£ 9.2bn) in the third quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2019.

The reduction came largely as a result of lower net interest income, as interest rates were slashed by central banks around the world.

Even before the Covid- 19 crisis, the interest rates set by central banks had not recovered from the shock of the financial crisis.

Before the crash, in July 2007, the Bank of England’s base rate was 5.75 per cent. Less than two years later, after several cuts, the rate was set at 0.5 per cent, where it stayed until 2016.

It meant that, when the Covid19 pandemic hit, rates could not drop much lower.

In March, the Bank reduced its base rate to 0.1 per cent, and has not ruled out rates turning negative, as they have elsewhere in the world.

“This raises a number of risks and concerns, such as the readiness of our systems and processes to accommodate zero or negative rates, the resulting impacts on customers, regulatory constraints and the financial implications given the significant impact that prolonged low interest rates are likely to have on our net interest income,” HSBC said yesterday.

It added that these, and other factors “may challenge the longterm profitability of the banking sector, including HSBC, and will be considered as part of the group’s transformation programme.”

That programme includes steering away from net interest income as its main source of income, and focusing more on making money through fees, said Fiona Cincotta, an analyst at City Index.

“This marks a huge shift in strategy but one that make absolute sense given the rockbottom interest rates that have dominated the banking scene for years and are look set to stay for the foreseeable future,” she said.

However, HSBC’s third- quarter results were not all doom and gloom for investors.

The bank now expects that its losses will be at the lower end of the $ 8bn to $ 13bn (£ 6bn to £ 10bn) that it had previously expected.

Meanwhile, profit before tax dropped by 36 per cent to $ 3.1bn (£ 2.4bn), but nevertheless ahead of the $ 2.1bn (£ 1.6bn) that had been forecast.

Chief executive Noel Quinn said: “These were promising results against a backdrop of the continuing impacts of Covid- 19 on the global economy.

“I’m pleased with the significantly lower credit losses in the quarter, and we are moving at pace to adapt our business model to a protracted low interest rate environment.

“We are accelerating the transformation of the group, moving our focus from interest- rate sensitive business lines towards fee- generating businesses, and further reducing our operating costs.”

Commenting on the results, Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, said: “The numbers have provided a brief respite to the torrid time which HSBC has suffered of late.”