London, July 2, 2026, 09:22 BST
- HSBC Holdings Plc (LON:HSBA) slipped 0.92% to 1,427.20p/1,427.40p in early London trading, with the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) higher by 0.36%.
- The London Stock Exchange opened at dateline, with its July 2 session set for 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local.
- Financial News says HSBC’s Zing payments app flopped, leading to $162.4 million in losses after it poured in $208.5 million.
- South Africa’s top court said forex-rigging charges against HSBC Bank Plc and five more lenders will get a full hearing.
HSBC Holdings Plc traded lower in London on Thursday, slipping 1.28 percentage points behind the FTSE 100 which was up. Investors responded to new numbers on a fintech project HSBC has scrapped. Shares stayed around 2% below the 1,456p year high, so cost surprises could still weigh.
Zing was in focus after Financial News reported Wednesday the international payments app’s holding company recorded a $30.4 million loss last year, mostly due to a $30.6 million impairment. Since launch, impairments have totaled $162.4 million. HSBC had invested $208.5 million and put the value of recoverable assets at $38.4 million, the report said.
Scale is what matters for shareholders here. Zing isn’t big enough to move the needle on 2026 earnings. The project does show if CEO Georges Elhedery’s cost cuts are hitting businesses beyond HSBC’s core Asia, UK and transaction-banking markets.
| Measure | Figure | Market read |
|---|---|---|
| Zing accumulated loss/impairment | $162.4 mln | 1.7% of HSBC 1Q pretax profit |
| Zing loss vs 1Q revenue | $162.4 mln | 0.9% of 1Q revenue |
| Zing loss vs 2026 banking NII guide | $162.4 mln | equal to 1.3 days using a straight-line |
| Zing investment | $208.5 mln | 0.45% of $46 bln banking NII target |
Financial News’ Zing numbers, HSBC’s Q1 revenue of $18.624 billion and Q1 pretax profit of $9.376 billion, plus its $46 billion bank net interest income forecast, were used in the calculations.
HSBC CFO Pam Kaur told investors in May the bank is raising its guidance for full-year Banking NII to about $46 billion. She added HSBC was aiming for a 50% dividend payout ratio based on earnings per share, with material notable items and related impacts excluded.
The rate-income cushion makes the Zing number more about management than profit for now. HSBC’s Q1 net interest income came in at $8.9 billion, up 8% from a year earlier. Banking NII was $11.3 billion, $0.7 billion higher. Net interest margin held at 1.60%.
| Market item | Latest | Context |
|---|---|---|
| HSBC quote | 1,427.20p/1,427.40p | Shares dropped 0.92% today |
| HSBC open | 1,430.80p | Opened higher but slipped after the bell |
| HSBC intraday high | 1,437.80p | Didn’t reach the 52-week high |
| HSBC 52-week high | 1,456.00p | Last quote sits about 2.0% under that |
| HSBC market value | £244.46 bln | P/E ratio now at 15.84 |
| FTSE 100 | 10,516.14 | Index added 0.36% |
HSBC’s bigger risk charge last period was tied to private credit, not to Zing. Back in May, Reuters said HSBC took a surprise $400 million loss after the collapse of Market Financial Solutions, a UK mortgage lender. Shares dropped 6.2% on that news. Kaur told reporters the bank had gone over its riskiest exposures and “we don’t see anything comparable there.” Reuters
HSBC’s first-quarter charge pushed credit losses up to $1.3 billion. KBW analyst Ed Firth told Reuters the results were “lacklustre”, especially compared to UK banks. Reuters
Legal issues are also in play. South Africa’s Constitutional Court said Tuesday that regulators can go after six banks, including HSBC Bank Plc, over alleged forex rigging. The matter heads back to the Competition Tribunal. HSBC gave no comment to Reuters.
The stock is still getting a boost after the February reset. HSBC bumped its return on tangible equity goal to “17% or better” through 2028, following a 2025 pretax profit of $29.9 billion. That’s around $1 billion ahead of consensus. Jefferies analysts said at the time investors would probably like the numbers, but might question HSBC’s guidance for just 1% cost growth in 2026. The analysts flagged competitive pressures and AI costs. Reuters
