LONDON: HSBC Holdings Plc will shift billions of dollars of investment from developed markets to Asia’s faster growing economies as it looks to become the go-to bank for the region’s wealthy.
Announcing full-year profits that beat analysts’ estimates, Europe’s largest bank said it would spend more than US$6bil over the next five years to expand its Asian operations, in particular its wealth management arm. It will scale back some of its investment bank.
Adjusted pre-tax profit slid 50% to US$2.2bil in the fourth quarter, compared with a US$1.8bil estimate, the bank said. HSBC will resume paying a dividend of 15 US cents after British regulators relaxed a ban intended to preserve capital last year after the virus outbreak.
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