HSBC is pushing even harder into China and India

HSBC (HSBC) has outlined China, southeast Asia, and India as the “key drivers” of its future growth. It specifically wants to build up its presence in mainland China, defend its leading position in Hong Kong and establish Singapore as a wealth management hub. And it remains bullish on India, which produced $1 billion of profit for the bank last year.

It’s a plan that focuses on a continent that was delivering more than 80% of HSBC’s profits prior to the pandemic. Last year, Asia “was once again by far the most profitable region,” Chairman Mark Tucker said in a statement.

The pivot to Asia comes as HSBC’s pre-tax profit fell to $8.8 billion last year, a 34% slump compared to the year before. Revenue fell 10% to $50.4 billion.

Still, that was better than analysts expected. And the bank on Tuesday said it is aiming to reinstate its dividend “at the earliest opportunity,” starting at 15 cents per share.

Adapting to the Covid economy

“This was a difficult decision and we deeply regret the impact it has had on our shareholders,” Tucker said in his statement, adding that the board had since “adopted a policy designed to provide sustainable dividends in the future.”

HSBC’s stock rose 2.2% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, before pulling back somewhat. Shares in London were down 1.1% in early trading.

“The top-down picture is not great,” said Russell.

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn acknowledged that the bank has been hit hard by record low interest rates. On the earnings call Tuesday, he estimated that HSBC had lost out on around $5.3 billion of potential net interest income.

“We don’t expect rates to rebound anytime soon,” he added.

Cost cutting

“What does tomorrow’s HSBC look like? We’re effectively undertaking three pivots: to Asia, to wealth and to fee income,” Quinn said.

The bank is hoping to project confidence to investors. It said Tuesday that it would raise its cost reduction target by $1 billion, taking its total goal to $31 billion by 2022.

It’s also sticking with a previous plan to scrap $100 billion in assets by the end of next year, and is already “more than halfway” to reaching that goal, according to Stevenson.

But there’s a long way to go. HSBC has “obviously got a lot of work to do in terms of restructuring to reduce their cost base, and this isn’t going to happen quickly,” said Macquarie Capital’s Russell. “We’ll be talking about this for the next couple of years.”

“We’re going to stop trying to be everything to everyone,” said Quinn. “We want to do the things that capitalize on the advantages we have, and to do them brilliantly.”