HSBC Holdings plc Annual Results 2019

Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive, said:

“The Group’s 2019 performance was resilient, however parts of our business are not delivering acceptable returns. We are therefore outlining a revised plan to increase returns for investors, create the capacity for future investment, and build a platform for sustainable growth. We have already begun to implement this plan, which my management team and I are committed to executing at pace.”

2019 financial performance (vs 2018)

• Reported profit attributable to ordinary shareholders down 53% to $6.0bn, materially impacted by a goodwill impairment of $7.3bn. Reported profit before tax down 33% to $13.3bn. Reported revenue up 4% and reported operating expenses up 22% due to a goodwill impairment of $7.3bn.
• Goodwill impairment of $7.3bn, primarily $4.0bn related to Global Banking and Markets (‘GB&M’) and $2.5bn in Commercial Banking (‘CMB’) in Europe. This reflected lower long-term economic growth rate assumptions, and additionally for GB&M, the planned reshaping of the business.
• Adjusted revenue up 5.9% to $55.4bn and adjusted profit before tax up 5% to $22.2bn, reflecting good revenue growth in Retail Banking and Wealth Management (‘RBWM’), Global Private Banking (‘GPB’) and CMB, together with improved cost control.
• Adjusted revenue in Asia up 7% to $30.5bn and adjusted profit before tax up 6% to $18.6bn. Within this, there was a resilient performance by Hong Kong, with adjusted profit before tax up 5% to $12.1bn.
• Adjusted expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (‘ECL’) up $1.1bn to $2.8bn from higher charges in CMB and RBWM.
• Positive adjusted jaws of 3.1%, reflecting improving cost discipline. Adjusted operating expense growth of 2.8%, well below the growth rate in 2018 (compared with 2017).
• Return on average tangible equity (‘RoTE’) down 20 basis points (‘bps’) to 8.4%, supported by a resilient Hong Kong performance.
• Earnings per share of $0.30, including a $0.36 per share impact of the goodwill impairment. Dividends per share in respect of 2019 of $0.51.
• We continue to monitor the recent coronavirus outbreak, which is causing economic disruption in Hong Kong and mainland China and may impact performance in 2020.

4Q19 financial performance (vs 4Q18)

• Reported loss before tax of $3.9bn, impacted by a goodwill impairment of $7.3bn and a $1.0bn UK bank levy charge. Reported revenue up 5% and reported operating expenses up 86% due to a goodwill impairment of $7.3bn.
• Adjusted revenue up 9% to $13.6bn and adjusted profit before tax up 29% to $4.3bn. Adjusted profit before tax in Hong Kong up 3% to $2.6bn.
• Adjusted costs of $9.1bn, up 3% or $0.3bn, reflecting ongoing cost discipline. Common equity tier 1 (‘CET1’) ratio improved by 40bps from 3Q19 to 14.7%, driven by risk-weighted asset (‘RWA’) reductions of $22bn in 4Q19.

Update on the Group Chief Executive process

• The process for appointing a permanent Group Chief Executive is ongoing and we expect to make an appointment within the 6 to 12 months initially outlined.

2020 business update

Alongside the publication of our full-year results, we today update you on our plans to improve the Group’s returns by 2022 to allow us to meet our growth ambition and sustain our current dividend policy. We intend to reduce capital and costs in our underperforming businesses to enable continued investment in businesses with stronger returns and growth prospects, including in RBWM and in all our businesses in Asia. We also plan to simplify our complex organisational structure, including a reduction in Group and central costs, while improving the capital efficiency of the Group.

The Group will target:

• a gross RWA reduction of over $100bn by the end of 2022, with these RWAs to be reinvested, resulting in broadly flat RWAs between 2019 and 2022;
• a reduced adjusted cost base of $31bn or below in 2022, underpinned by a new cost reduction plan of $4.5bn; and
• a reported RoTE in the range of 10% to 12% in 2022, with the full benefit of our cost reductions and redeployed RWAs flowing into subsequent years.

We intend to sustain the dividend and maintain a CET1 ratio in the range of 14% to 15%, and plan to be at the top end of this range by the end of 2021.

We plan to suspend share buy-backs for 2020 and 2021, given the high level of restructuring expected to be undertaken over the next two years. We intend to return to neutralising scrip dividend issuance from 2022 onwards.

Specifically, each business will focus on the following:

European business (excluding HSBC UK)

We plan to reduce RWAs by around 35% by the end of 2022 through a focus on clients that value our international banking capabilities, reducing capital deployed to our Rates businesses, and exiting capital and leverage intensive product lines – including G10 long-term derivative market making in the UK. We intend to focus our UK investment banking activities on supporting UK mid-market clients and international corporate clients through our London hub. We also intend to reduce our sales and trading and equity research in Europe and transition our structured products capabilities from the UK to Asia.

US business

Our aim is to reposition our US business as an international client-focused corporate bank, with a targeted retail offering. We intend to consolidate select Fixed Income activities with those in London to maximise global scale, and reduce the RWAs associated with our US Global Markets business by around 45%. We aim to reinvest these RWAs into CMB and RBWM. We also intend to reduce operating expenses by 10% to 15%, and refocus Retail Banking to serve globally mobile clients, invest in digital and unsecured lending. We aim to reduce our US branch network by around 30% and embark on a programme to consolidate middle and back office activities and streamline functions to simplify our US business and lower costs.

Global Banking and Markets

Our aim is for GB&M to support corporate and institutional clients with global operations who value our international network. We plan to accelerate investments in Asia and the Middle East and shift more resources to those regions, while continuing to strengthen our transaction banking and financing capabilities. We intend to strengthen our investment banking capabilities in Asia and the Middle East, while maintaining a global investment banking hub in London. We also aim to build leading emerging markets and financing capabilities in Global Markets, and enhance our institutional clients business. This remodelling of GB&M will be underpinned by continued investment in digital systems and solutions.

Group-wide simplification

We intend to implement a number of changes, with the aim of creating a simpler and more efficient organisation, including:

• consolidating the back and middle office to a single model for CMB and Global Banking;
• consolidating RBWM and GPB into a new Wealth and Personal Banking (‘WPB’) division;
• reducing geographic reports from seven to four at Group Executive level; and
• reorganising the global functions and head office to match the new structure.

To achieve our targets, we expect to incur restructuring costs of around $6bn and asset disposal costs of around $1.2bn during the period to 2022, with the majority of restructuring costs incurred in 2020 and 2021.

For further information contact:

Media Relations

UK – Heidi Ashley
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7992 2045

Hong Kong – Patrick Humphris
Telephone: +852 2822 2052

Investor Relations

UK – Richard O'Connor
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7991 6590
investorrelations@hsbc.com

Hong Kong – Mark Phin
Telephone: +852 2822 4908
investorrelations@hsbc.com.hk