London-headquartered HSBC posted higher profits in 2024 with stable revenues further boosted by gains most notably from the sale of its Canada business.
HSBC’s pre-tax profit rose 6.6 percent to $32.2 billion in 2024, according to the bank’s financial results. While net interest income fell 8.6 percent to $32.7 billion, net fee income increased 3.8 percent to $12.3 billion. Operating expenses grew 3 percent to $33 billion.
The profit improvement was most notably boosted by a $4.8 billion gain from the sale of HSBC’s banking business in Canada to RBC and the non-recurrence of a $3 billion impairment charge in 2023 from its stake in Bank of Communications in China. The bank also made a $1.6 billion gain recognized from the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank in the UK.
This was offset by a $1 billion loss on the disposal of the Argentina business, recycling of foreign currency reserve losses and other reserves of $5.2 billion and disposal losses of $1 billion on Treasury repositioning and risk management.
Overall, profit after tax was up around $400 million to $25 billion. The board approved a fourth interim dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in a total of $0.87 per share in 2024. The bank also announced a share buyback of up to $2 billion which it expects to complete by the first quarter results announcement this year.
