HSBC announces fresh $3 billion share buyback as third-quarter earnings beat expectations

Europe’s largest lender HSBC on Tuesday announced it will repurchase up to $3 billion in shares as it issued a third-quarter earnings report that beat analyst estimates, boosted by strong revenue growth as well as its wealth and personal banking divisions.

Here are HSBC’s results compared with LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:

• Pre-tax profit: $8.5 billion vs. $8 billion
• Revenue: $17 billion vs. $16.2 billion

HSBC’s pre-tax profit represented a 10% rise from the $7.71 billion posted a year ago. Profit after tax came in at $6.7 billion, $500 million higher than the third quarter of 2023.

The company’s quarterly revenue grew 5% to $17 billion, compared to the $16.2 billion that was reported a year ago.

The bank’s fresh $3 million share buyback brings the total amount announced this year to $9 billion — $3 billion was announced in the first quarter and another $3 billion in the second quarter. The company added that its board has also approved a third interim dividend of $0.1 per share.

Net interest margin, a measure of lending profitability, dropped to 1.5% from 1.7% a year ago. While basic earnings per share for the quarter came in at 34 cents, higher than 29 cents in the same period last year.

Shares of HSBC climbed 3.5% in Hong Kong afternoon trading following the release of the report.

Earlier this month, the Financial Times had reported that HSBC boss Georges Elhedery could go for the bank’s senior management as part of cost-cutting plans that could save as much as $300 million.

HSBC reported a rise of 2% in operating expenses for the third quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, due to higher spend and investment in technology.

The earnings release comes a week after the bank unveiled plans to restructure into four business units, dividing its operations into an “Eastern markets” branch and a “Western markets” division, amid a major overhaul that saw the appointment of its first female finance chief.

HSBC had also vowed to streamline its businesses to “reduce the duplication of processes and decision making.” The new structure will go into effect in January, and “will results in a simpler, more dynamic, and agile organization,” Elhedery said.