Finance HSBC to buy back $3bn of shares By Reuters October 30, 2023 Creative Commons The bank dished out the third interim dividend payout this year of 10 cents per share, bringing the total payout to 30 cents per share London-based HSBC Holdings reported on Monday a 240 percent increase in third-quarter pre-tax profit as higher interest rates boosted the bank’s profitability and helped it fund a fresh $3 billion share buyback. Europe’s largest bank posted a pre-tax profit of $7.7 billion for the July to September quarter, versus $3.2 billion a year earlier, but the result trailed the $8.1 billion mean average estimate of brokers compiled by HSBC. The London-headquartered bank with a market value of $118.6 billion said it aimed to complete the share buyback by next February, lifting the total buybacks announced this year to $7 billion. Mena companies can tap $1bn HSBC climate tech fund UAE grey list: UK banks close expat accounts Bahrain hard currency assets rise $800m says HSBC It also dished out the third interim dividend payout this year of 10 cents per share, bringing the total payout to 30 cents per share. In the third-quarter results, the lender booked a $500 million impairment related to the commercial real estate sector in mainland China. “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’s Asia-focused competitor Standard Chartered reported last week an unexpected one-third plunge in third-quarter profit due to a nearly $1 billion combined hit from its exposure to China’s real estate and banking sectors.
