Hsbc Share Price Rises as CEO Says Overhaul Is Nearly Complete Despite Profit Slip
Market reaction pushed hsbc share price higher after HSBC published full-year results showing pre-tax profit near $29. 9bn and management signalled the bank’s restructuring is largely done; London-listed shares rose by 5% during morning trading on Wednesday.
Headline profit, revenue and quarter-by-quarter numbers
HSBC reported pre-tax profit figures described in its results as $29. 9bn for 2025 and, in another line, $29. 91bn for 2025, with the latter noted as down from $32. 31bn the previous year; one summary said the figure was $1bn higher than forecasts by City analysts. The group said it faced $4. 9bn of notable one-off charges in the year, and annual revenue increased by 4% to $68. 3bn. Net interest income reached $34. 8bn, which was $2. 1bn higher than in 2024.
For the fourth quarter, HSBC posted pre-tax profit of $6. 8bn and fourth-quarter revenue noted as $16. 36bn in one account and shown as $16. 4bn in another; the quarter’s profit was stronger than the fourth quarter of 2024, when a cited comparative pre-tax number was $2. 28bn or, in a different summary, about $2. 3bn.
Bonuses, dividends and executive pay
Bankers will share a $3. 9bn bonus pot, the largest in more than a decade and 10% higher than a year earlier; the bank said it had set the pool "based on a review of our performance against financial and non-financial metrics. " The board approved a final dividend of $0. 45 per share, adding to $0. 30 paid earlier in the year for a total of $0. 75 per share for 2025, down from $0. 87 in 2024. Group chief executive Georges Elhedery took home £6. 6m in 2025, an 18% rise from a year earlier.
Hsbc Share Price reaction and investor signals
Investors pushed Hsbc Share Price higher after management raised targets and presented the numbers: the bank’s London-listed stock soared about 50% during 2025 and climbed a further 10% year to date to a market value of roughly $300bn, while another measure noted shares were up more than 47% over one year. Market commentary flagged the results as a beat on core metrics and lifted expectations for returns.
Analysts flagged two threads for investors: Jefferies cautioned that the bank’s forecast of just a 1% rise in costs for 2026 could be questioned given competitive pressures and the need to invest in AI technology, and a senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown described the results as driven by core banking momentum and raised the prospect of better consensus numbers for 2026.
Restructuring, cost targets and the Hang Seng deal
Elhedery, who took over as CEO in 2024, said the lender is "becoming a simple, more agile, focused bank built for a fast-changing world" and signalled his overhaul was drawing to a close. The bank has been reorganising operating divisions along east-west lines, shedding smaller investment banking units in the US and Europe and cutting senior-manager ranks as part of a plan to save $1. 5bn in costs; HSBC said it is on track to hit those savings six months earlier than planned.
Last year HSBC took its Hang Seng Bank subsidiary private in a $13. 7bn deal. The combined operations are targeting $900m in pre-tax revenue and cost synergies by the end of 2028, but the bank also flagged $600m of restructuring costs tied to that integration.
Charges in China and business-unit performance
The group booked a $2. 1bn write-off tied to its holding in China’s Bank of Communications, and logged $1. 4bn of legal provisions plus $1bn of restructuring and related costs; those items contributed to a reported 66% tumble in pre-tax profit for its mainland China business to $1. 1bn. Separate breakdowns showed revenue growth by unit in the year: Corporate and Institutional Banking to $27. 6bn, Hong Kong to $15. 9bn, the UK to $12. 9bn and International Wealth and Premier Banking to $14. 5bn.
Targets for returns, margins and the next milestones
HSBC raised its target for return on tangible equity to "17% or better" through 2028, up from a previous "mid-teens" goal through 2027; last year RoTE was cited at 13. 3% while RoTE excluding notable items was shown as 17. 2%. The bank also highlighted net interest income growth and set targets including revenue growth to 5% by 2028 and net interest income above $45bn; other metrics cited included a net interest margin rising to 1. 59%, a cost/income ratio of 53. 4% and a CET1 capital ratio around 14. 9%.
Georges Elhedery noted that each of the bank’s four businesses performed well and that guidance would be raised; the firm also appointed former KPMG partner Brendan Nelson as chair in December. The bank said it would pay a final dividend of 45 cents a share and will pursue the $900m of combined synergies through to the end of 2028 as the next confirmed milestones.
