HSBC profits fall slightly despite strong wealth and Hong Kong business growth

HSBC’s pre-tax profits fell marginally in the opening quarter, the lender has revealed. The UK-based bank’s quarterly profit before tax fell to 9.4 billion dollars (£6.96 billion), down from 9.5 billion (£7 billion) a year earlier. HSBC said the decrease reflected higher expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges, as well as a rise in operating expenses. Revenue increased 6% to 18.6 billion dollars (£13.7 billion) compared with the opening quarter of 2025, driven by strong performance in wealth management and the Hong Kong business segment. “We continued to make positive progress in creating a simple, more agile, growing HSBC,” chief executive Georges Elhedery said. “Each of our four businesses contributed to firm-wide revenue growth and each delivered an annualised RoTE in excess of 17%, excluding notable items.” He added: “In periods of greater uncertainty, customers turn to us more as their trusted partner to navigate complexity with the financial strength, stability and expertise they know they can rely on. “We remain confident in achieving the targets we set out in February 2026.”