HSBC has reported a 32% rise in quarterly pre-tax profit to 9.6 billion US dollars (£7.2 billion) for the three months to September, helped by higher income from interest rates, lower expected credit losses and a smaller provision for legal costs than a year earlier.
The banking giant said it had made bigger savings than it originally set out to achieve under a two billion US dollar (£1.5 billion) cost-cutting programme that is nearing completion.
Cost savings beat target
Operating expenses, which include day-to-day spending such as salaries, were 1.3 billion dollars (£980 million) lower than the same period last year. The cost-cutting drive, launched by chief executive Georges Elhedery in 2025, had set a target to reduce the cost base by around 1.5 billion dollars (£1.1 billion) a year by the end of 2026.
HSBC said it had beaten this target with savings worth 1.9 billion dollars (£1.4 billion), which it expects to reach two billion dollars (£1.5 billion) by the end of the year.
Shareholder returns
The bank also announced it would hand up to one billion dollars (£750 million) to shareholders as part of a new share buyback scheme.
Mr Elhedery said: “Our performance shows that in a more complex world clients continue to turn to us to navigate uncertainty and seize new opportunities.”
“It also reflects consistent execution of our strategic priorities with pace, precision and discipline. As we simplify HSBC, we are creating greater capacity to invest, grow and deliver strong returns for our shareholders.”
