LONDON, May 2, 2026, 16:01 BST
HSBC Holdings Plc heads into first-quarter earnings week with investors watching a dividend decision and whether the London-listed bank can protect a sharp share-price run. The company will report on Tuesday, May 5, at 5 a.m. BST, while a stock-exchange notice lists consideration of a first interim dividend for 2026; its shares closed Friday at 1,359.40 pence.
The timing matters because HSBC has given investors a higher bar. In February, the bank raised its target for return on tangible equity, or RoTE — a measure of profit against shareholder capital — to 17% or better for 2026 through 2028, and said it would not start more buybacks until its common equity tier 1 ratio, a core measure of loss-absorbing capital, returns within or above its 14%–14.5% target range.
That leaves Tuesday’s numbers carrying more weight than a routine quarterly update. HSBC’s 2025 pretax profit fell 7% to $29.9 billion after $4.9 billion of one-off charges, though it beat consensus and followed a strong 2024; Chief Executive Georges Elhedery said then that the bank was becoming a “simple, more agile, focused bank.” Reuters
Peer results have kept credit risk in view. NatWest reported a 12% rise in first-quarter profit on Friday but booked a 283 million-pound impairment charge, with 140 million pounds linked to the economic impact of the Iran war. Standard Chartered, HSBC’s closest UK-listed Asia peer, posted a better-than-expected 17% profit gain but took a $190 million charge tied to the same conflict.
A Friday HSBC filing showed two senior executives added shares through automatic reinvestment of the bank’s fourth interim dividend for 2025. David Liao, co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, acquired 22,167 shares at 13.46739 pounds each, while Barry O’Byrne, chief executive of international wealth and premier banking, acquired 45 shares; the filing made clear these were dividend reinvestments, not discretionary market purchases.
The bank also made routine capital filings before the results. HSBC issued 14,171 ordinary shares under its 2011 share plan during the period from March 28 to April 29, and said its issued share capital and total voting rights stood at 17,183,560,530 ordinary shares as of April 29, with no shares held in treasury.
But the setup is not clean. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould wrote that the first-quarter results season was “a chance for the lenders to back up analysts’ forecasts,” and flagged HSBC and Standard Chartered as possible exceptions to firmer net interest income because HIBOR, the Hong Kong interbank lending rate, fell in the quarter. He also said banks could take a more conservative view on loan provisions if the Middle East conflict lingers or escalates. AJ Bell
For HSBC, the questions are direct: whether Asia wealth and transaction banking can offset weaker Hong Kong rates, whether credit costs stay within guidance, and whether capital rebuilding leaves room for cash returns later in the year. The dividend call will give the first hard signal before analysts pick apart the full numbers.
