Following a profit beat, HSBC’s CEO paints a bullish Outlook!

HSBC Holdings Plc issued a positive forecast for the months ahead, citing projected interest rate hikes as a catalyst, and said it will shortly begin a larger-than-planned share repurchase programme. The London-based lender said on Monday that adjusted pretax earnings increased to approximately $6 billion in the third quarter, exceeding expectations. For the first time in almost two years, revenue increased modestly in the third quarter, and the likelihood of earlier-than-expected rate hikes may drive additional gains in the future.

In a phone interview Monday, Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson said, “We do believe we are close to an inflexion point currently in revenues.” “If we do obtain rate hikes, it will have a significant impact on our performance.”

In addition, HSBC reversed $659 million in anticipated credit losses, primarily at its ring-fenced bank in the United Kingdom. That’s the most since the pandemic started, and it’s more than analysts had predicted. A “small net release” could happen in the fourth quarter, according to the bank.

As pandemic restrictions have eased and regulatory restrictions on shareholder returns have been lifted, banks have benefited from the recovery. Expectations that central banks will raise interest rates to combat rising prices are also boosting optimism.

Furthermore, Stevenson stated in an interview with Bloomberg Television that by the end of next year, the bank expects two to three hikes in UK interest rates from their historic lows. According to Jefferies analysts, the $2 billion buybacks was ahead of market forecasts. At 8:27 a.m. in London, the bank’s shares were up 0.3 per cent, bringing the year’s total gain to 15%.

HSBC, a global financial company, is undergoing a major reorganisation in order to develop in Asia, with wealth management as a key profit driver. The bank is quitting businesses in the United States and Europe and investing billions of dollars in Asia, where it already makes the majority of its money

The company saw a drop in revenue from wealth and personal banking, but a rise in revenue from commercial banking. The investment bank’s revenue fell 3%, including a 46 per cent reduction in global debt markets, which the bank attributed to the previous year’s outstanding performance as well as its choice to deploy less money inside the unit.

Despite this, HSBC, like other large banks, is suffering cost challenges as a result of a global war for financial expertise. In a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn indicated that worker bonuses would be given at an “appropriate level,” while Stevenson said the company was seeing “sustained wage pressure globally at the moment.”