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RNS Number : 6122D  HSBC Holdings PLC  08 May 2026

 

8 May 2026

 

 

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC - AGM STATEMENTS

 

 

At the Annual General Meeting of HSBC Holdings plc, held at the
InterContinental London O2, London, UK today, the following statements were
issued by Group Chairman, Brendan Nelson and Group Chief Executive, Georges
Elhedery.

 

 

Group Chairman's Statement:

 

This is the first time that I have the honour to join you as your Group
Chairman.

 

I want to pay tribute to my predecessor - Sir Mark Tucker - for his strong
leadership and exemplary commitment to the Group.

 

For my part, I am privileged to be part of this remarkable institution and to
have this opportunity to be with you for the AGM.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, 161 years ago on 3 March 1865, HSBC opened for business
at 1 Queen's Road, Central, in Hong Kong.

 

We opened a branch in Shanghai one month later and an office in London three
months after that.

 

HSBC's founders sought to establish a bank that would facilitate local and
international trade.

 

By not losing sight of that foundational objective and by remaining true to
our purpose and values, we have focused on what matters most - our customers -
moving forward together through these most complex of times.

 

Today, HSBC is clear on our core strengths, investing to further develop our
competitive advantages and deliver sustainable growth, with an entirely
attainable ambition to be the most trusted bank globally, putting customers at
the heart of everything we do.

 

And, in that spirit, we invested US$13.7bn in the privatisation of Hang Seng
Bank. This marks another significant milestone in our history.

 

We have brought together two seminal institutions that have served Hong Kong
for generations. We are absolutely committed to building on that valued
legacy.

 

While respecting Hang Seng's heritage and retaining its brand and distinct
customer proposition, we will continue to invest and develop the complementary
strengths of our businesses, to the benefit of our valued customers and the
communities that we serve.

 

Turning to our financial performance, 2025 was a very good year for the Group.

 

And that positive momentum continues. Indeed, our first quarter results, which
were announced on Tuesday this week, provided further evidence that our growth
strategy is delivering.

 

Georges will provide a detailed update shortly.

 

This strong financial performance enabled us to reward you, our loyal
shareholders, with material returns.

 

In total, we returned US$18.9bn to shareholders in respect of 2025.

 

The total dividend announced for 2025 was US$0.75 per share, which amounts to
US$12.9bn, an increase of 14% on 2024 if you exclude the special dividend paid
following the completion of the sale of HSBC Bank Canada.

 

In addition, we completed two share buy-backs in respect of 2025 worth a total
of US$6bn.

 

Dividends paid in 2025, together with a more than 49% increase in the share
price, delivered a total shareholder return for the year of more than 57%.

 

Earlier this week, at our first quarter results, we approved a first interim
dividend for 2026 of US$0.10 per share.

Looking ahead, the dividend outlook remains strong.

Our dividend payout ratio target remains 50%, excluding material notable items
and related impacts, for 2026, 2027 and 2028.

 

We have also raised our ambition and are targeting a 17%, or better, return on
tangible equity, excluding notable items, each year from 2026 through 2028.

 

We will continue to focus on the execution of our strategy, navigating the
continuing global geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

 

The Iran conflict, and its dramatic spillover in the Gulf and the broader
region, has added to the unpredictability with longer-term implications for
the global economy, which faces the biggest disruption to global oil supply in
history. An array of energy-related prices has surged globally, reigniting
inflation fears, as well as growth and interest rate concerns.

 

As the international bank with the longest and deepest heritage in the Middle
East, with roots going back 135 years, our thoughts are with all those who are
affected.

 

Our focus has been, and continues to be, on supporting our valued customers
and partners. I am thankful to our excellent colleagues, who have shown
remarkable resilience, and carried out their responsibilities with great
professionalism and dedication throughout this difficult period.

 

We are confident in the Gulf States in the long-term strength, resilience and
promise of the region and we remain invested in its future and in the
opportunities that lie ahead for its people, businesses, and economies.

 

Putting aside the unknowns linked to the Middle East conflict, the question is
what are the risks and the opportunities that will underpin the 'new networks
connecting the global economy'.

 

The paradigm shift brought on by the imposition of tariffs did not lead to
widespread fragmentation or de-globalisation. It triggered a reconfiguration
of the globalised world that validated the criticality of trade and brought
new opportunities to the fore.

In 2025, global growth and the pace of expansion of world trade proved
stronger than expected, as the tariff-related headwinds were offset by the
significant momentum generated by: investment and export growth related to the
entire AI ecosystem, new bilateral and regional trade liberalisation
agreements, and the ever-resilient US consumer.

 

World trade grew by 7% and surpassed US$35tn for the first time in 2025,
supported by new trade corridors and sustained growth in services trade.

With respect to 2026 and beyond, all current global growth, trade and inflation projections should be approached with considerable caution given the still-to-be-fully-understood and settled impacts of the Iran conflict.

 Globally, headline inflation releases are showing significant impacts from higher motor fuel prices. The longer the disruption continues, the more the indirect effects from higher energy costs will lift inflation and depress growth.

The counterweight to the heightened and increasing levels of uncertainty permeating the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment is the resilience of the global economy and the forward momentum generated by global trade, buoyed by new corridors and incredible innovation.

 HSBC is optimally positioned to help our customers capture the meaningful opportunities that are driving the global economy forward, across geographies and throughout our unique global network.

 With that in mind, we continue to focus on sustainability.

 Supporting our customers is core to our strategy - and financing their transition is both critical to them and aligned to our net zero ambition. This is because, like HSBC, our clients tell us that they see a successful transition as a driver of innovation, opportunity, and growth and increasingly the basis of a stronger, more resilient global economy.

 In November 2025, we published HSBC's updated Net Zero Transition Plan.

 The Plan reaffirms our unchanged ambition to become a net zero bank by 2050

 In our updated Plan, we also set out our updated interim financed emissions targets, metrics and associated policies, seeking to remain science-aligned and compatible with our own net zero ambition.

 We believe that supporting our customers' transition is one of the most significant roles we can play in the global transition to net zero. We aim to provide and facilitate between US$750bn and US$1tn of sustainable finance and investment by 2030. In 2025, we provided and facilitated US$102bn in sustainable finance and investment, a record annual high for HSBC, leveraging our extensive global footprint and strategic presence in the world's most dynamic economies to drive meaningful impact where it matters most.

 These investments brought our cumulative total to US$496bn since January 2020, putting us on track to meet our target by 2030.

 Ladies and gentlemen, to summarise, our 2025 financial performance was strong.

 This enabled us to reward you with a higher dividend which, in addition to the increase in the share price, delivered an excellent total shareholder return for the year.

 Thank you once again for the trust and loyalty you have shown throughout the years.

 And please know that the Board and the management team are fully aligned in our shared commitment to ensure that the strong financial performance and returns for you, our loyal shareholders, continue in the years to come.

 With that, let me hand over to Georges who will discuss the actions we are taking to make that happen.

 

 

Group Chief Executive's Statement:

 

A very warm welcome to all of you here in London and to those of you joining
virtually.

Our AGM is one of the most significant dates in our calendar.

It's a chance for you to hear from us, and for us to hear from you.

We look forward to listening to your feedback and answering your questions.

Since we last gathered, the world has become more uncertain.

 

The conflict in the Middle East is a reminder that we live in a more
shock-prone, interconnected global economy.

HSBC has been present in the Middle East for more than 130 years.

During that time, we've seen its ability to endure periods of disruption and
its determination to always adapt and emerge stronger.

That's why we continue to believe the years ahead will bring renewed
stability, growth, and prosperity.

Despite frequent shocks, the world is changing structurally. Trade flows are
shifting. Capital is moving along new corridors. And technology is opening up
a world of new possibilities.

AI is reinventing customer experience and new forms of finance are reinventing
how money moves through the system.

As this happens, demand for globally connected financial services is
increasing.

This is especially true in the world's fastest-growing regions, where the
shift is now visible in both capital flows and trade.

Asia is central to this. It is driving 60% of global growth and 40% of global
trade.

 

More of that trade is staying within the region. Asia is trading more with
Asia.

And wealth is rising, driven by an expanding middle-class and a generational
wealth transfer.

That is why we have taken decisive action to position HSBC to capture these
structural growth opportunities.

Our strategy is working.

The results are clear in our financial performance.

As Brendan said, I will provide a detailed update.

2025 was a strong year. We performed. We transformed. And we continued to
invest for growth.

Excluding notable items, we delivered 17.2% RoTE. We increased revenue by 5%
to US$71bn. And we grew profit before tax 7% to US$36.6bn.

Our structure is now aligned with our strategy. And we are investing in our
four complementary, connected businesses to grow.

 

In 2025, each business performed well, growing both revenue and deposits.

In Transaction Banking, elevated market activity demonstrated the power of our
deep international network, which gives access to 86% of world trade flows.

In Wealth, customers turned to us to protect and grow their assets because of
our products, proposition and leadership position.

Here in the UK, we stayed close to our customers and supported the economy.

Our UK business delivered revenue of US$12.9bn, an increase of 5%, with
customer loans increasing 6% to more than US$300bn.

 

We continued to simplify HSBC.

We took actions early. This means we are now in a position to deliver the
US$1.5bn of simplification saves we promised you six months ahead of plan.

This initiative is designed to make HSBC simple and more agile.

 

We continue to move at pace with our exit of non-strategic or low returning
activities over the medium-term.

This initiative is now expected to release US$1.8bn of incremental investment
capacity, which we are already reallocating to areas of competitive strength.

And we continue to focus on operating efficiency.

We are eliminating complexity and increasing productivity, focusing on driving
innovation and customer experience.

We are also investing to deliver focused, sustainable growth.

Here in our UK home market, we are already seeing real results.

In Business Banking we are growing customer numbers, lowering attrition rates
and seeing greater advocacy.

In Hong Kong, our other home market, we completed the US$13.7bn privatisation
of Hang Seng Bank.

Hong Kong is a dynamic economy, a top three global financial centre and a
thriving trade gateway. It is set to become the world's leading cross-border
wealth hub by 2029.

The privatisation enables us to scale capabilities and drive growth across two
iconic banks by combining global reach and local depth.

We are also investing to connect the world, scaling our existing capabilities,
building new ones, and supporting our customers secure commercial advantage
from new forms of finance.

Our customers are now moving money in real-time, 24/7 across 35 markets.

They are using frictionless tokenised deposits and payments for instant
settlement in five markets, including the UK, US, EU, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Many more will follow.

We are also at the forefront of financial innovation.

In January the UK Treasury selected our distributed ledger technology as its
preferred platform for its UK digital gilt pilot.

And in April the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted us the first stablecoin
licence. We will issue in the second half of this year.

Technology and artificial intelligence are playing a particularly important
role as we build a bank designed for the future.

We are integrating AI to deliver a bank-wide transformation programme to
redesign processes, enhance customer service, and drive operational leverage
and resilience.

This year, we launched our firmwide AI vision.

 

It focuses on empowering all our colleagues to use AI to improve the quality
and speed of their work.

The target being to create a personalised experience for each customer,
delivered safely, in real time and at scale. It also keeps human judgement,
decision-making and accountability at its core.

We see innovation and culture as key to our competitiveness, and we are
investing in both.

All our senior leaders and the broader Managing Director cohort have attended
our new group-wide leadership training.

 

All these efforts combined are driving real momentum in the business which is
reflected in our first quarter performance.

 

Excluding notable items, revenues grew 4% and our RoTE was 18.7%.

Each of our four businesses continued to grow revenues. Each delivered
annualised RoTE in excess of 17%, excluding notable items.

 

And we grew both loans and deposits in the quarter, showing that during
periods of greater uncertainty our customers turn to us as a trusted partner
and source of financial strength.

We remain fully invested in the GCC's future and the many opportunities that
lie ahead for its people, businesses and economy. Our customers there know
they can count on us when they need it the most.

In the UK, we saw continued growth in mortgages and our commercial lending
book.

 

What the last year has shown is that we are now generating sharper, more
focused business performance by being simple and agile.

That is why we are building on these firm foundations and raising our ambition
for the years 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Over this period, we will now target: 17% RoTE, or better; year-on-year
revenue growth, rising to 5% in 2028; while maintaining our dividend payout
ratio target of 50%.

 

In 2025 we moved forward with clarity, discipline and conviction. This gives
us confidence that we can deliver against these targets.

As you would expect, we remain watchful of the macro-economic uncertainty and
the targets are subject to a range of plausible outcomes.

In summary, our focus is clear:

To unlock HSBC's full potential.

Our strategy is clear:

To be simple and agile.

To drive customer-centricity.

To deliver focused, sustainable growth for you, our shareholders.

And our ambition is clear:

To be the most trusted bank globally.

By putting customers at the heart of everything we do.

Before closing, I would like to thank our Board of Directors and, in
particular, our Chairman, Brendan Nelson. His clear guidance, robust challenge
and strong oversight strengthen every decision we make. I value our
partnership greatly.

I would also like to thank our customers for placing their trust in HSBC and
all my colleagues for their many valued contributions.

It is their dedication, commitment and passion to deliver for our customers
that truly differentiates HSBC and is key to delivering this positive
performance.

And finally, I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for your ongoing
support and confidence.

 

 

 

Media enquiries to:

HSBC Group Press Office         +44 (0)20 7991 8096
   pressoffice@hsbc.com (mailto:pressoffice@hsbc.com)

 

Investor enquiries to:
Alastair Ryan                             +44 (0)7468 703010
                investorrelations@hsbc.com

 

 

Note to editors:

 

HSBC Holdings plc

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London.
HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 56 countries and territories.
With assets of US$3,306bn at 31 March 2026, HSBC is one of the world's
largest banking and financial services organisations

 

 

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