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\t\tHSBC released its half-year update on Tuesday.\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 04 August 2026 7:04 am\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tHSBC released its half-year update on Tuesday.\t<\/p>\n
HSBC has resumed its share buyback<\/a> programme after profit soared past expectations in the second quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n The FTSE 100 bank<\/a> \u2013 whose market cap of \u00a3274bn makes it the London Stock Exchange\u2019s most valuable company \u2013 posted $10.1bn (\u00a37.5bn) in pre-tax profit for the last three months, surging past an internal forecast of \u00a39.5bn. This was also up 60 per cent from the $6.3bn secured in the same period last year.<\/p>\n The profit haul came as revenue climbed 11 per cent to $37.7bn.<\/p>\n Net interest income climbed eight per cent to $18.2bn, as the bank re-invested lower-yielding hedges at current higher market interest rates, a strategy known as structural hedging. The group\u2019s<\/a> net interest margin \u2013 a key indicator of a bank\u2019s profitability from lending \u2013 was up four basis points to 1.61 per cent.<\/p>\n Fee income, which is coveted by banks as a stable form of income due to its none-reliance on interest rates, increased nearly 10 per cent to $7.3bn.<\/p>\n This was driven by a bumper performance across wealth \u2013 a key area of focus for chief executive Georges Elhedery \u2013 which grew 20 per cent to $5.5bn.<\/p>\n HSBC restarts buybacks and ups cost-cutting target<\/p>\n HSBC said it would resume share buybacks with program of up to $1bn, set to be completed before the firm delivers its third quarter update.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tCurrys launches \u00a350m buyback as it shrugs off market slowdown<\/a><\/p>\n The group had previously hit pause on buybacks<\/a> following its move to privatise Hang Seng Bank in October 2025. The blue-chip giant offered to pay HK$155 per share for a 36 per cent stake not already owned by the bank, which valued the holding at HK$106.1bn (\u00a310.7bn).<\/p>\n In the second quarter update, Elhedery raised the bank\u2019s cost-cutting target for the end of 2026 to $2bn from the original $1.5bn, which the group said was achieved at the beginning of this year.<\/p>\n It expects to achieve this within the original restructuring budget of $1.8bn.<\/p>\n Elhedery took the helm at the bank just over two years ago and quickly began his remake of the group\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n A key part of chief executive Georges Elhedery\u2019s restructure has included splitting the business into \u201ceastern\u201d and \u201cwestern\u201d markets, covering the Asia-pacific and the Middle East and the Americas and Europe, respectively.<\/p>\n Total headcount across the group has dropped to 206,161, down 2,559 since the year-end of 2025. City AM revealed last February the bank was set to axe a number of investment bankers on the same day allocated for bonus<\/a> payouts.<\/p>\n Reports later confirmed that investment bankers at vice-president level and above received no bonus following termination.<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n