HSBC eyes special payout as focus shifts to Asia following sale of Canadian unit

HSBC will consider a special payout after the sale of its Canadian unit as the bank attempts to face down a campaign from its largest shareholder to pursue a wider break-up of the business.

Reporting results that beat analyst estimates, HSBC said it may pay a special $0.21 dividend after the completion of the unit sale amid a continuing tussle with major shareholder Ping An of China. The bank announced the all-cash $10 billion (€9.38 billion) sale of HSBC Canada in November as it seeks to convince investors its plan to refocus on Asia is a better bet than Ping An’s call to consider spinning out its business in the region.

HSBC’s adjusted pretax profit rose 92 per cent to $6.83 billion in the fourth quarter, above the $6.51 billion consensus estimate of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The lender, like other global financial services firms, has benefited from rising interest rates. Its net interest margin – a key measure of profitability – rose to 1.74 per cent in the quarter, up from 1.19 per cent a year earlier.

“We are on track to deliver higher returns in 2023,” chief executive Noel Quinn said in its earnings statement. “With the delivery of higher returns, we will have increased distribution capacity, and we will also consider a special dividend once the sale of HSBC Canada is completed.”

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In a move that will prove especially popular to its large investor base in Hong Kong, HSBC said it would resume paying quarterly dividends from the first quarter this year. It said it has brought forward its consideration of buy-backs to the first quarter of 2023 and will look at other potential buy-backs, in addition to any existing programme. HSBC previously said it would only resume buy-backs once its core capital moved back within its target range of 14 per cent to 14.5 per cent.

The bank’s shares rose 0.4 per cent in early afternoon Hong Kong trading.

Cost pressures are one of the biggest issues facing the bank. In September, HSBC’s then chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson told a conference that rising inflation could force the lender to significantly increase salaries and that “brutal cuts could be needed to keep a lid on costs”.

The lender’s costs rose 2 per cent in the period due to technology spending and performance-related pay. Overall for last year, the bank’s variable pay pool shrank to $3.36 billion from $3.5 billion in 2021 as it paid less to investment bankers.

HSBC is among banks who have been seeking to increase shareholders returns as rising interest rates propel profits, but its outlook has long been complicated by geopolitical tensions.

On the credit side, the bank’s results were hampered as expected credit losses almost tripled to $1.4 billion in the quarter, primarily due to corporate exposures in the UK and mainland China commercial real estate markets.

HSBC is in the midst of an overhaul of its global operations, most recently announcing the sale of its Canadian unit to Royal Bank of Canada, to refocus on Asia. That deal is expected to close later this year and generate a pretax gain of $5.7 billion.

The bank is also looking to develop its operations in some of Asia’s biggest markets. HSBC has put a renewed focus on building up its Indian unit and plans to open an onshore private banking service for the country’s wealthiest citizens this year.

Management was bogged down last year in efforts to head off a campaign by Ping An, the company’s largest shareholder, to force it to consider a spin-out and separate listing of its Asian operations. HSBC has said it can create more value by keeping and growing the business.

The results are the first under new chief financial officer Georges Elhedery, who took over from Mr Stevenson at the start of the year.

– Bloomberg