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Tag: HSBC

  • Shujaa returns home from Brazil, focusing on Hong Kong Sevens

    Shujaa returns home from Brazil, focusing on Hong Kong Sevens

    The Kenya Sevens men’s team jetted back into the country early today from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they earned a promotion to the HSBC World Championship after finishing 3rd overall in the HSBC Division 2.

    Family friends and Kenyan rugby officials braced the chilly morning weather to welcome back the Kenyan lads.

    Shujaa, under the tutelage of Kevin Bling’ Wambua, bagged Silver in the Sao Paulo, an upgrade after settling for bronze in the Kenya and Uruguay series.

    Kenya now shifts the focus to their first HSBC World Series appearance at the Hong Kong sevens between 17th and 19th this month, where they are in pool C alongside the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

  • HSBC profits jump as bank set for major shakeup

    HSBC profits jump as bank set for major shakeup

    HSBC has seen its quarterly profits jump by 10% as the UK-based banking giant embarks on one of the biggest shakeups in its 159-year history.

    The firm said its pre-tax profits rose to $8.5bn (£6.6bn) in the three months to the end of September, beating analysts’ expectations.

    It comes just days after HSBC’s new boss announced a major overhaul of the company.

    The firm will be split geographically into eastern and western markets amid increasing geopolitical tensions and a need to cut costs.

    HSBC’s new chief executive, Georges Elhedery, said that implementation of the plans will “begin immediately” and promised to share more details alongside the bank’s full-year results in February.

    “We delivered another good quarter, which shows that our strategy is working,” Mr Elhedery added.

    The bank also said it will buy back another $3bn of its own shares.

    HSBC shares were trading more than 2% higher in Hong Kong after the announcement.

    “HSBC’s third-quarter results were solid, with no major surprises,” said Michael Makdad is a senior equity analyst at financial services firm Morningstar.

    “Rather than the generally good results, I think the focus… will be on the structural overhaul”.

    The bank also said it expects to complete the sale of its Argentinian business by the end of this year.

    The company makes most of its money in Asia and has been shifting its focus to the region in recent years.

    HSBC has also recently announced a reshuffle of its leadership, with the appointment of Pam Kaur as its first ever female finance chief.

    Ms Kaur has worked at the bank for more than a decade and is currently its chief risk and compliance officer.

    As well as becoming HSBC’s chief financial officer, Ms Kaur will take up the role of executive director of the board, which is subject to election at the firm’s next annual general meeting.

    Mr Elhedery replaced Noel Quinn as HSBC’s chief executive in early September.

    It came at a crucial moment for the bank, as it tries to maintain its position in Asian and Western markets amid growing geopolitical tensions.

  • Higher interest rates help to more than double HSBC profits

    Higher interest rates help to more than double HSBC profits

    UK-based banking giant HSBC says its quarterly profits jumped to $7.7bn (£6.35bn), boosted by higher interest rates.

    That is as the firm’s pre-tax profit for the period to the end of September more than doubled from a year earlier.

    “We have had three consecutive quarters of strong financial performance”, group chief executive Noel Quinn said in a statement.

    However, that was still lower than the $8.1bn profit expected by analysts.

    The bank also announced a plan to buy back another $3bn of its shares from investors, as well as a new dividend payout to shareholders.

    That brings HSBC’s total share buybacks for this year to $7bn and the total dividend payout to 30 cents per share.

    “We are pleased to again reward our shareholders,” Mr Quinn said.

    HSBC also said it had taken a $500m hit related to China’s crisis-hit property market.

    “We continue to monitor risks related to our exposures in mainland China’s commercial real estate sector closely, and there remains a degree of uncertainty in the forward economic outlook, particularly in the UK,” the company said in the results statement.

    HSBC, which has its headquarters in London, generates most of its income in Asia.

    Last week, HSBC’s Asia-focused rival Standard Chartered reported an unexpected plunge in its third-quarter profit due to a nearly $1bn billion combined hit from its exposure to China’s real estate and banking sectors.