HSBC, the leading bank in Europe, has reported a 5% rise in its pre-tax profit of $10.2bn (£7.8bn), which amounts to about $500m.
On the back of a growing capital base, the bank has announced that it’s buying back shares for the third time.HSBC, which has been granted a restricted banking licence from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority for its ring-fenced bankin the UK, will buy back shares of up to $2 billion. The bank expects to complete the latest buyback of shares by the second half of the current year.
Group Chief Executive of HSBC Stuart Gulliver said, “In the past 12 months, we have paid more in dividends than any other European or American bank and returned $3.5bn to shareholders through share buybacks.”
The dividend amount that HSBC paid in 2016 was $10.1 billion, which exceeded the dividend amounts of other banks. The bank’s dividend amount was higher compared to preceding years – $10 billion in 2015 and $9.6 billion in 2014.
“We have done this while strengthening one of the most resilient capital ratios in the industry,” explained Stuart.
“We continue to shift the Group’s business mix towards Asia. In the first half of the year, we won new mandates related to the China-led Belt and Road initiative and helped connect more Chinese companies to international opportunities. We further expanded our product range in the Pearl River Delta, and retained our position as the world’s leading international bank for renminbi business,” he said.