HSBC Holdings plc (LON:HSBA) has announced its 2023 interim results.
Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive, said:
“We have delivered a strong first half performance and are confident of achieving our revised mid-teens return on tangible equity target in 2023 and 2024. There was good broad-based profit generation around the world, higher revenue in our global businesses driven by strong net interest income, and continued tight cost control. I am also pleased that we can reward our shareholders with a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share and a second share buy-back in 2023 of up to $2bn, with substantial further distribution capacity still expected ahead.
There is still much work to do, especially given the many challenges in the global economy, but I am confident about the future as we move further into the next phase of our strategy and focus on opportunities to drive value creation, diversify our revenue and retain tight cost control.”
Financial performance (1H23 vs 1H22)
– Profit before tax rose by $12.9bn to $21.7bn. This included a $2.1bn reversal of an impairment relating to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France and a provisional gain of $1.5bn on the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank UK Limited (‘SVB UK’). On a constant currency basis, profit before tax increased by $13.3bn to $21.7bn. Reported profit after tax increased by $9.1bn to $18.1bn.
– Revenue increased by $12.3bn to $36.9bn. The increase was driven by higher net interest income in all of our global businesses due to interest rate rises. It also included the impacts related to the planned sale in France and the acquisition in the UK. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose by $13.2bn to $36.9bn.
– Net interest margin (‘NIM’) of 1.70% increased by 46 basis points (‘bps’).
– Expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (‘ECL’) of $1.3bn reflected a more stable outlook in most markets, although inflationary pressures remain. The 1H23 charge included $0.3bn relating to the commercial real estate sector in mainland China and charges in Commercial Banking (‘CMB’) in the UK. The 1H22 charge of $1.1bn reflected heightened economic uncertainty, mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine war and inflationary pressures, and also included $0.3bn relating to the commercial real estate sector in mainland China, partly offset by releases of Covid-19-related allowances.
– Operating expenses of $15.5bn were $0.7bn or 4% lower than in 1H22, primarily due to lower restructuring and other related costs following the completion of our cost-saving programme at the end of 2022 and from a $0.2bn impact from a reversal of historical asset impairments. This was partly offset by higher technology costs, an increase in performance-related pay, severance of $0.2bn in 1H23 and the effects of rising inflation. Target basis operating expenses rose by 4.3%.
– Customer lending balances increased by $36bn since 31 December 2022. On a constant currency basis, lending balances grew by $23bn, mainly due to the reclassification of balances associated with our retail banking operations in France from held for sale during the period, and $7bn of additional balances following our acquisition of SVB UK during 1Q23. These were partly offset by the reclassification of our business in Oman as held for sale, which resulted in a $3bn reduction. Excluding these factors, customer lending fell, reflecting weaker customer demand for wholesale lending, notably in Hong Kong and Europe.
– Customer accounts increased by $25bn since 31 December 2022. On a constant currency basis, customer accounts increased by $3bn, mainly due to the reclassification of balances associated with our retail banking operations in France from held for sale during the period. In addition, our acquisition of SVB UK resulted in growth of $7bn, and in 1H23, we reclassified our business in Oman as held for sale, resulting in a $5bn reduction. Excluding these factors, deposits fell, reflecting reductions in Wealth and Personal Banking (‘WPB’) and CMB in HSBC UK, as well as in Global Banking and Markets (‘GBM’).
– Annualised return on average tangible equity (‘RoTE’) of 22.4% compared with 10.6% in 1H22. Excluding the annualised impacts related to the planned sale in France and the acquisition in the UK, annualised RoTE was 18.5%.
– Common equity tier 1 (‘CET1’) capital ratio of 14.7% increased by 0.5 percentage points compared with 4Q22, which was driven by capital generation net of the dividend accrual, and included an approximately 0.3 percentage point impact from the reversal of an impairment on the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France and the provisional gain on the acquisition of SVB UK. This was partly offset by increased risk-weighted assets (‘RWAs’) and the impact of the share buy-back announced with our 1Q23 results in May 2023.
– The Board has approved a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share. We also intend to initiate a further share buy-back of up to $2bn, which we expect to commence shortly and complete within three months.
Financial performance (2Q23 vs 2Q22)
– Reported profit before tax increased by $4.1bn to $8.8bn.
– Revenue rose by $4.5bn to $16.7bn, with growth across all of our global businesses, primarily reflecting interest rate rises. There were good performances in insurance in WPB and in Debt Capital Markets in GBM, which offset reductions in Global Foreign Exchange and Equities.
– NIM of 1.72% increased by 3bps, compared with 1Q23.
– ECL of $0.9bn increased by $0.5bn. ECL in 2Q23 included $0.3bn of charges in the commercial real estate sector in mainland China, and $0.3bn in the UK, mainly in CMB.
– Operating expenses of $7.9bn fell by $0.1bn. This was driven by lower restructuring and other related costs following the completion of our cost-saving programme at the end of 2022 and the reversal of historical asset impairments. This reduction was partly offset by $0.2bn of severance costs incurred in 2Q23, as well as higher technology spend, an increase in our performance-related pay accrual and the effects of rising inflation.
– Customer lending decreased by $9bn compared with 31 March 2023, which included a reduction of $3bn related to a reclassification of our business in Oman to held for sale. The remaining reduction was mainly in GBM in HSBC Bank plc, reflecting client deleveraging and weaker demand as interest rates rose.
– Customer accounts decreased by $18bn compared with 31 March 2023, which included a reduction of $5bn related to the reclassification of our business in Oman to held for sale. The remaining reduction was in GBM in Europe, as corporate customers used deposits to pay down their loans, and in HSBC UK, reflecting higher cost of living and competitive pressures.
Outlook for 2023
– Our strategy has enabled us to further strengthen our balance sheet, providing us with a good platform for growth in the current interest rate cycle, while maintaining cost discipline. This has given us the confidence to revise our returns guidance for 2023 and 2024. Based on the current path implied by the market for global policy rates, we are now targeting a RoTE in the mid-teens for 2023 and 2024, which excludes the impact of material acquisitions and disposals.
– Given the current market consensus for global central bank rates, we have raised our 2023 full-year guidance for net interest income to above $35bn. While the interest rate outlook remains positive, we expect continued migration to term deposits as short-term interest rates rise.
– We continue to expect ECL charges of around 40bps of average gross loans in 2023 (including lending balances transferred to held for sale). There remains a degree of uncertainty in the forward economic outlook, particularly in the UK, and we are monitoring risks related to our exposures in mainland China’s commercial real estate sector. Over the medium to long term, we continue to use a range of 30bps to 40bps of average loans for planning our ECL charges.
– We remain highly focused on maintaining cost discipline. We continue to target operating expense growth of approximately 3% for 2023, excluding the impact of foreign currency translation differences, notable items and the impact of retranslating the 2022 results of hyperinflationary economies at constant currency. Our target also excludes the impact of our acquisition of SVB UK, and the related investments internationally, which are expected to add approximately 1% to the Group’s operating expenses. In 2Q23, we incurred severance costs of $0.2bn, with the benefits expected to be realised towards the end of 2023 and into 2024.
– We intend to manage the CET1 ratio within our medium term target range of 14% to 14.5%, and we aim to manage this range down in the long term. In addition, our dividend payout ratio is 50% for 2023 and 2024, excluding material notable items. We have announced a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share and intend to initiate a further share buy-back of up to $2bn, which we expect to commence shortly and complete within three months. Further buy-backs for 2023 and beyond will be subject to appropriate capital levels.
Key financial metrics
| Half-year to | ||
| 30 Jun | 30 Jun | |
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| Reported results | ||
| Profit before tax ($m) | 21,657 | 8,780 |
| Profit after tax ($m) | 18,071 | 8,931 |
| Cost efficiency ratio (%) | 41.9 | 65.7 |
| Net interest margin (%) | 1.70 | 1.24 |
| Basic earnings per share ($) | 0.86 | 0.40 |
| Diluted earnings per share ($) | 0.86 | 0.40 |
| Dividend per ordinary share (in respect of the period) ($) | 0.20 | 0.09 |
| Alternative performance measures | ||
| Constant currency profit before tax ($m) | 21,657 | 8,404 |
| Constant currency cost efficiency ratio (%) | 41.9 | 65.7 |
| Expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (annualised) as % of average gross loans and advances to customers (%) | 0.28 | 0.21 |
| Expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (‘ECL’) (annualised) as % of average gross loans and advances to customers, including held for sale (%) | 0.26 | 0.21 |
| Basic earnings per share excluding material notable items ($)1 | 0.70 | 0.29 |
| Return on average ordinary shareholders’ equity (annualised) (%) | 20.8 | 9.9 |
| Return on average tangible equity (annualised) (%) | 22.4 | 10.6 |
| Return on average tangible equity excluding strategic transactions (annualised) (%)2 | 18.5 | 10.6 |
| Target basis operating expenses ($m)3 | 15,319 | 14,683 |
| At | ||
| 30 Jun | 31 Dec | |
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Total assets ($m) | 3,041,476 | 2,949,286 |
| Net loans and advances to customers ($m) | 959,558 | 923,561 |
| Customer accounts ($m) | 1,595,769 | 1,570,303 |
| Average interest-earning assets, year to date ($m) | 2,162,662 | 2,143,754 |
| Loans and advances to customers as % of customer accounts (%) | 60.1 | 58.8 |
| Total shareholders’ equity ($m) | 184,170 | 177,833 |
| Tangible ordinary shareholders’ equity ($m) | 153,234 | 146,927 |
| Net asset value per ordinary share at period end ($) | 8.44 | 8.01 |
| Tangible net asset value per ordinary share at period end ($) | 7.84 | 7.44 |
| Capital, leverage and liquidity | ||
| Common equity tier 1 capital ratio (%)4,5 | 14.7 | 14.2 |
| Risk-weighted assets ($m)4,5 | 859,545 | 839,720 |
| Total capital ratio (%)4,5 | 19.8 | 19.3 |
| Leverage ratio (%)4,5 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| High-quality liquid assets (liquidity value, average) ($bn)5,6 | 631 | 647 |
| Liquidity coverage ratio (average) (%)5,6 | 132 | 132 |
| Share count | ||
| Period end basic number of $0.50 ordinary shares outstanding (millions) | 19,534 | 19,739 |
| Period end basic number of $0.50 ordinary shares outstanding and dilutive potential ordinary shares (millions) | 19,679 | 19,876 |
| Average basic number of $0.50 ordinary shares outstanding (millions) | 19,693 | 19,849 |
For reconciliations of our reported results to a constant currency basis, including lists of notable items, see page 39 of the Interim Report 2023. Definitions and calculations of other alternative performance measures are included in our ‘Reconciliation of alternative performance measures’ on page 57 of the Interim Report 2023.
1 At 2Q23, earnings per share included the impact of the provisional gain recognised in respect of the acquisition of SVB UK of $0.08 (2Q22: nil); the reversal of the impairment loss related to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France of $0.08 (2Q22: nil); and the agreed sale of our banking business in Canada of $nil (2Q22: $nil). Additionally, the earnings per share at 2Q22 included the impact of the recognition of certain tax assets of $0.11.
2 Excludes impacts of the reversal of the impairment loss of $1.6bn (net of tax) relating to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France, which is no longer classified as held for sale, and the provisional gain of $1.5bn recognised in respect of the acquisition of SVB UK, both recognised in 1Q23.
3 Excluding the impact of retranslating prior year costs of hyperinflationary economies at constant currency.
4 Unless otherwise stated, regulatory capital ratios and requirements are based on the transitional arrangements of the Capital Requirements Regulation in force at the time. At 30 June 2023, the IFRS 9 add-back to CET1 capital was immaterial. References to EU regulations and directives (including technical standards) should, as applicable, be read as references to the UK’s version of such regulation or directive, as onshored into UK law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and as may be subsequently amended under UK law.
5 Regulatory numbers and ratios are as presented at the date of reporting. Small changes may exist between these numbers and ratios and those subsequently submitted in regulatory filings. Where differences are significant, we will restate in subsequent periods.
6 The liquidity coverage ratio is based on the average month-end value over the preceding 12 months.
Highlights
| Half-year to | ||
| 30 Jun | 30 Jun | |
| 2023 | 2022 | |
| $m | $m | |
| Reported | ||
| Revenue1,2,3 | 36,876 | 24,545 |
| Change in expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges | (1,345) | (1,087) |
| Operating expenses | (15,457) | (16,127) |
| Share of profit in associates and joint ventures | 1,583 | 1,449 |
| Profit before tax | 21,657 | 8,780 |
| Tax (charge)/credit | (3,586) | 151 |
| Profit after tax | 18,071 | 8,931 |
| Constant currency4 | ||
| Revenue1,2,3 | 36,876 | 23,647 |
| Change in expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges | (1,345) | (1,074) |
| Operating expenses | (15,457) | (15,532) |
| Share of profit in associates and joint ventures | 1,583 | 1,363 |
| Profit before tax | 21,657 | 8,404 |
| Tax (charge)/credit | (3,586) | 227 |
| Profit after tax | 18,071 | 8,631 |
| Notable items | ||
| Revenue | ||
| Disposals, acquisitions and related costs2,3 | 3,321 | (288) |
| Fair value movements on financial instruments5 | 15 | (371) |
| Restructuring and other related costs6 | – | 68 |
| Operating expenses | ||
| Disposals, acquisitions and related costs | (118) | – |
| Restructuring and other related costs7 | 47 | (1,040) |
| Tax | ||
| Tax (charge)/credit on notable items | (500) | 242 |
| Recognition of losses | – | 2,082 |
| Uncertain tax positions | 427 | (317) |
1 Net operating income before change in expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges, also referred to as revenue.
2 Includes the reversal of $2.1bn impairment loss relating to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France, which is no longer classified as held for sale.
3 Includes the provisional gain of $1.5bn recognised in respect of the acquisition of SVB UK in 1Q23.
4 Constant currency performance is computed by adjusting reported results of comparative periods for the effects of foreign currency translation differences, which distort period-on-period comparisons.
5 Fair value movements on non-qualifying hedges in HSBC Holdings.
6 Comprises gains and losses relating to the business update in February 2020, including losses associated with the RWA reduction programme.
7 In 2Q23, we recognised $47m of reversals relating to restructuring provisions recognised during 2022.
Review by Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive
By the time we completed the first phase of our strategy at the end of 2022, the changes we had made were delivering an improved financial performance. Six months into 2023, our financial performance has continued to improve, aided by the interest rate environment. As we move further into the next phase of our strategy focused on value creation, I am optimistic about our ability to continue to deliver strong returns for our investors.
Our purpose of ‘opening up a world of opportunity’ underpins everything we do for our customers, colleagues and the communities we serve. In the first half of 2023, we continued to deliver on that promise by launching new products and services, and developing our capabilities to meet the international needs of our diverse customer base. From the new international proposition for Wealth and Personal Banking customers launched in March and the continued development of our Global Money and Global Wallet products, to the digitisation of international account opening and the globally connected HSBC Innovation Banking business launched in June, there are many examples of how my colleagues are truly living our purpose.
Many of these achievements contributed to our strong first-half performance, as we saw continued good revenue growth across all our global businesses, supported by higher interest rates. We delivered a strong annualised return on tangible equity of 22.4%, including the reversal of an impairment relating to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France and a provisional gain on the acquisition of SVB UK, both of which were reported in the first quarter. Excluding them, we achieved an annualised return on tangible equity of 18.5%. Our strategy is working. The Board, my colleagues and our shareholders are all focused on the shared objectives of supporting our customers, driving stronger performance and creating more value for our investors.
The biggest challenge we all face remains the uncertainty within the external environment. High inflation remains a significant concern for many of our customers. Even though headline inflation rates are now falling in most countries, they remain persistently high in some markets. In the UK, we have seen limited signs of stress in the mortgage book, although we are acutely aware of the day-to-day financial challenges that some of our customers face. With more mortgage customers due to roll off fixed-term deals in the next six months, and further rate rises expected, tougher times are ahead. We will continue to communicate regularly with our customers, listen to their concerns, seek to offer them help should they want it and ensure they are aware of the range of products available to them.
Across the global economy, growth remains uneven. China’s reopening at the start of the year lifted both its economy and the prospects for global GDP growth in 2023, although weaker recent data underlines that its recovery may be slower than previously expected. Other parts of Asia, such as India and the ASEAN region, are growing robustly, as is the Middle East.
From transformation to value creation
At the end of 2022, we completed the first phase of our strategy. As a result of the work done to transform HSBC, including to reposition our portfolio, create broad-based profit generation, maintain strong cost discipline and introduce a sustainable dividend, we built a strong platform for growth. This work helped to put HSBC on track to achieve a return on tangible equity of 12%+ in 2023.
In the first half of 2023, our strategic approach has changed from transformation to value creation. While there have been – and will continue to be – opportunities to further simplify HSBC, we have shifted our focus to driving growth, while maintaining strong returns.
First, we have further leveraged our international connectivity. Our ability to connect the world’s major trading and investment blocs has always been, and remains, our greatest strength. In the first-half, our wholesale cross-border client business increased by around 50%, with growth across all regions, due mainly to rising interest rates. In Wealth and Personal Banking, we now have 6.3 million international customers, which is up 8% on the same period last year. There was also strong revenue growth in global transaction banking, which was up by 63%. Within global transaction banking, there were good performances in Foreign Exchange and in Global Payments Solutions, due to higher rates. Trade was slightly down in line with global trade volumes, although HSBC was recently named ‘Best Bank for Trade Finance’ by Euromoney for the second year in a row, while also being named ‘Best Bank in Asia’.
Second, we made further progress towards the redeployment of capital from less strategic or low-connectivity businesses into high-growth international opportunities. We are pleased to have agreed revised terms for the sale of our French retail banking operations, which we now expect to complete in early 2024. The sale of our banking operations in Canada also remains on track to complete in early 2024. We have also completed the disposal of our Greek business, and announced the planned exit of Russia, a change to the nature of our presence in Oman, and the wind-down of Wealth and Personal Banking in New Zealand.
At the same time, we are investing in growth in a strategic and targeted way. We have invested further in our Wealth business in Asia. We now have a total of 1,400 digitally enabled wealth planners in our Pinnacle business in mainland China, while we launched Global Private Banking in India in July. In June, following our acquisition of SVB UK, we also launched a new strengthened, globally connected proposition – HSBC Innovation Banking. Through it, we are building similar businesses to the former SVB UK in the US, Hong Kong and Israel, and using our international network and balance sheet strength to offer new opportunities to expand globally to our clients in the technology and life sciences sectors.
Third, we are working to diversify our revenue. A key strategic priority has been to grow fee income by investing in our Wealth business, especially in Asia. We saw the continuing benefit of this in the first-half as we grew net new invested assets by $34bn, of which $27bn were in Asia. Fee income in Commercial Banking, which is another priority area, was also up in the first-half by 6%, while collaboration revenue from referrals between our global businesses also increased by 5%.
Fourth, we have maintained tight cost discipline. Costs of $15.5bn in the first-half were $0.7bn or 4% lower than the same period last year, primarily due to lower restructuring costs following the end of our cost-saving programme at the end of 2022. On the basis of our target to limit cost growth to around 3% in 2023, operating expenses increased by 4% in the first-half, including the expected severance costs booked in the second quarter. We remain committed to disciplined cost management.
Fifth, we have reinvested cost savings in technology. Spending on technology increased by 12.8% in the first-half, and now accounts for almost a quarter of total operating expenses. Delivering faster services, reducing friction and offering more competitive products has been critical to improving the customer experience. For example, we have now migrated over 26,000 business customers in Hong Kong and the UK to our next generation digital trade platform, which is enabling us to future-proof a market-leading business.
Investing in technology is also key to enhancing our capabilities and building the bank of the future. We now have a range of ‘test and learn’ use cases for generative AI across HSBC, and are in the process of scaling those up. Last month, HSBC became the first bank to join BT’s and Toshiba’s quantum-secured metro network employing quantum technology for secure transmission of data, which will enable us to evaluate how best to use this technology against future cyber threats. We are also pleased to be working with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on two pilots to test the e-HKD in a new payments ecosystem and to trial tokenised deposits.
Finally, we continued to build on our position as an enabler of the net zero transition by supporting our customers’ transition plans. In the first-half, we provided and facilitated $45bn of sustainable finance and investments, which consisted of capital markets financing and lending to clients as we continued to work closely with them on their transitions. This included a number of key deals in Asia and the Middle East. We have also continued to help unlock new climate solutions, including through our Climate Tech Venture Capital strategy. HSBC was named ‘Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Asia’ by Euromoney for the sixth consecutive year.
Translating into strong financial performance
Our strong first-half featured good broad-based profit generation around the world. There was also higher revenue in our global businesses driven by strong net interest income, supported by continued tight cost control. We achieved an annualised return on tangible equity of 22.4%, or 18.5% excluding the two material notable items reported with our first quarter results.
Profit before tax for the first half of 2023 was $21.7bn, which was an increase of $12.9bn on the first half of 2022. This included a $2.1bn reversal of an impairment relating to the planned sale of our retail banking operations in France and a provisional gain of $1.5bn on the acquisition of SVB UK. Profit after tax increased by $9.1bn to $18.1bn.
Revenue increased by $12.3bn to $36.9bn, driven mainly by higher net interest income in all three global businesses due to interest rate rises. It also included gains related to the two aforementioned transactions in the first quarter.
Expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges were $1.3bn, which was a $0.3bn increase on the first half of 2022.
Our CET1 ratio at the end of the first-half was 14.7%. We have announced a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share, further to the $0.10 per share dividend already paid in respect of the first quarter. We are also announcing a second share buy-back of up to $2bn. We continue to expect to have substantial distribution capacity going forward.
Our strong performance in the first half of 2023 and our continued strategic progress mean that we now expect to achieve a return on tangible equity in the mid-teens for 2023 and 2024.
Thank you to my colleagues
Over the last six months, I had the opportunity to spend time with colleagues in France, Hong Kong, mainland China, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. I have been constantly impressed by their commitment, dedication and tireless efforts to support our customers – all of which are evident in our many achievements. I am especially grateful to those colleagues who have faced serious challenges so far this year, including the earthquakes in Türkiye in February and, of course, the ongoing cost of living crisis in many markets.
Overall, we have delivered a strong first-half performance and are confident of delivering our revised return on tangible equity target for 2023 and 2024. I am also pleased that we can reward our shareholders with strong capital returns, with substantial further distribution capacity still expected ahead.
There is still much work to do, especially given the many challenges in the global economy, but I am confident about our future as we move further into the next phase of our strategy and focus on opportunities to drive value creation, diversify our revenue and retain tight cost control.
Noel Quinn
Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc
1 August 2023
