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HSBC Holdings (HK:0005) (LON:HSBA) reported stronger-than-expected full-year 2025 earnings, supported by solid performance in wealth management and transaction banking. The Asia-focused banking giant posted a pretax profit of $29.91 billion, surpassing the $28.86 billion analyst consensus compiled by Bloomberg. However, the figure was lower than the $32.38 billion recorded in 2024 due to significant one-off charges.
The decline was largely attributed to $4.9 billion in adverse notable items, including impairments linked to HSBC’s stake in Bank of Communications, as well as legal expenses and restructuring costs tied to strategic exits. Excluding these exceptional items, HSBC’s pretax profit rose to $36.62 billion, up from $34.18 billion a year earlier, highlighting the bank’s underlying operational strength.
Group revenue increased 4% year-on-year to $68.3 billion, driven by higher wealth management fees and stronger foreign-exchange income within its corporate and institutional banking division. The results underscore HSBC’s continued focus on its core Asian markets and diversified income streams.
In the fourth quarter, pretax profit surged to $6.8 billion, compared with $2.3 billion in the same period last year. The sharp increase reflected a favorable shift in notable items, as the fourth quarter of 2024 was impacted by losses related to HSBC’s Argentina disposal.
For 2025, HSBC reported a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of 13.3%, or 17.2% when excluding notable items. The bank declared a fourth interim dividend of $0.45 per share, bringing total 2025 shareholder payouts to $0.75 per share, reinforcing its commitment to capital returns.
Looking ahead, HSBC reaffirmed its target of achieving at least 17% ROTE from 2026 to 2028. The bank expects banking net interest income of at least $45 billion in 2026 and credit losses of around 40 basis points of loans, citing continued momentum and cost savings from ongoing simplification efforts.
