Pretax profit tripled to US$12.89 billion, beating an estimate of US$8.64 billion. That was partially driven by a US$2.1 billion reversal of an impairment linked to the delayed sale of its French retail arm and the booking of a US$1.5 billion gain from its purchase of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK business.
HSBC Holdings Plc’s shares rose after the Asia-focused lender announced a fresh plan to return money to shareholders after reporting first-quarter results that beat estimates.
The London-headquartered bank will buy back as much as US$2 billion of stock and also resume paying quarterly dividends for the first time since 2019, stepping up capital returns as it faces mounting pressure from one of its largest investors to boost profitability.
