| {"doc_id": "1d98f1222ef30b65b5af6c740fbaa0c1", "text": "6-K 1 a2384h.htm HSBC HOLDINGS PLC - AGM STATEMENTS a2384h FORM 6-K SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 Report of Foreign Private Issuer Pursuant to Rule 13a - 16 or 15d - 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 For the\nmonth of May HSBC Holdings plc 42nd\nFloor, 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ, England (Indicate\nby check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual\nreports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F). Form\n20-F X Form 40-F 2 May 2025 HSBC HOLDINGS PLC - AGM STATEMENTS At the Annual General Meeting of HSBC Holdings plc, held\nat The InterContinental London O2, London, UK today, the\nfollowing statements were issued by Group Chairman,\nMark Tucker and Group Chief Executive, Georges\nElhedery. Group Chairman's Statement: This year we celebrate a very important milestone anniversary for\nthe HSBC Group. 160 years ago, on 3 March 1865, HSBC opened for business at 1\nQueen's Road, Central, in Hong Kong. We opened a branch in Shanghai one month later and an office in\nLondon three months after that. HSBC's founders started out with a clear and simple objective, an\nobjective that is as relevant and significant today, as it was\nthen, to establish a bank that would facilitate local and\ninternational trade connecting East and West and the many, many\nplaces in-between. We continue to build on this great legacy. In 2024, the Group achieved record results. I will expand on this by covering two points: Firstly, the strong financial performance of the Group,\nandsecondly, how this enabled us to reward you, our loyal\nshareholders, with higher returns. I will start with our 2024 financial performance. We delivered record profit before tax of US$32.3bn - an increase of\nUS$2bn compared with 2023. Our reported return on tangible equity was 14.6%, in line with our\n'mid-teens' target. We also achieved broad-based profit generation through geographic\nand business diversification. These results demonstrate that our international strategy is\nworking very well. Our first quarter results which were announced on Tuesday this week\nprovided further evidence that our strategy is\ndelivering. Georges will speak about the first quarter results in a\nmoment. Let me now turn to how our performance both in 2024 and in the\nfirst quarter of 2025 has enabled us to reward you with higher\nreturns. In total we returned US$26.9bn to shareholders in respect of\n2024. The total dividend announced for 2024 was US$0.87 per share, which\namounts to US$15.9bn. This includes the special dividend of US$0.21 per share, totalling\nUS$3.9bn. This was paid in June following the completion of the\nsale of HSBC Bank Canada. Excluding this special dividend, the full-year dividend of US$0.66\nper share is the highest annual dividend since\n2007. In addition, we have now completed four share buy-backs in respect\nof 2024 worth a total of up to US$11bn. That includes the up to US$2bn buy-back we announced with our\nannual results presentation in February, which has now been\ncompleted. Since the start of 2023 we have repurchased 12% of the issued share\ncount. Combined with our sustained levels of profitability, this has led\nto greater earnings and dividends per share for our\nshareholders. Dividends paid in 2024, together with a more than 20% increase in\nthe share price, delivered a total shareholder return for the year\nof more than 30%. Earlier this week, at our first quarter results, we announced an\ninterim dividend for 2025 of US$0.10 per share, and a new share\nbuy-back of up to US$3bn which we expect to initiate shortly after\ntoday's AGM. Looking ahead, the dividend outlook remains strong. Our dividend payout ratio target for 2025 remains 50%, excluding\nmaterial notable items and related impacts. We are targeting a mid-teens return on tangible equity, excluding\nnotable items, in 2025, as well as in 2026 and 2027. We are confident that we can meet our targets and, as a result,\ndeliver another year of healthy returns in 2025, despite the\nuncertain geopolitical and geoeconomic environment,\nglobally. Indeed, whether it is trade, international security arrangements,\nor economic policy, we are experiencing a period of deep and\nprofound change. The over-arching impact of the changing approach to global trade\nrelations has been to increase economic uncertainty with serious\npotential risks to global growth. The range of possible outcomes and the implications thereof, make\nany attempt at medium term projections very difficult. Despite the many unknowns that we are dealing with, we believe that\nthe inter-connectedness of the global economy remains compelling.\nAs does global trade, the glue that keeps it all together, the\ncentral catalyst for growth and diversification. Indeed, at both global and regional levels, there are many trade\nblocs that bring increasing economic engagement, and, in some\ncases, integration. Intra-Asian exports, for instance, have risen 31% in the last five\nyears, and are expected to grow by U$400bn per year through 2030,\nled by the China-ASEAN and India-ASEAN corridors. The same is true in Europe, where total intra-EU trade grew by 34%,\nduring that same period. Inter-regional linkages, such as the Asia - Middle East trade,\ninvestment, and travel corridor, are also growing\nrapidly. HSBC is very well positioned to capture the resulting\nopportunities, through our strong presence, history, and track\nrecord in and across these countries and regions and, more broadly,\nthroughout our unique international network. With that, let me hand over to Georges, who will discuss the\nactions we are taking to make all this happen. Group Chief Executive's Statement: Thank you Mark. Fellow shareholders. A very warm welcome to all of\nyou here in London and to those joining virtually. Thank you for taking the time to join us. I'm delighted to be here\nas your Group CEO. Our AGM is one of the most significant dates in our calendar, it's\na chance for you to hear from us, and for us to hear from you. We\nlook forward to hearing your feedback and answering your\nquestions. As Mark mentioned, this is a very special year, it's our 160th\nanniversary. Since 1865, we have been helping economies grow, businesses thrive,\nand people protect and grow their wealth. In so many ways, our mission hasn't changed over those 160 years.\nIt has simply evolved to meet our customers changing needs driven\nby progress and growth. From new technologies to new economic realities. Adapting to change\nis what we have always done. It brings out the best in our people who are passionate about what\nthey do. We are a trusted partner to our customers as they navigate the\nworld's uncertainties and look towards new\nopportunities. That's why we have a strong bank that is performing\nwell. On Tuesday, we published our first quarter results. Our profit\nbefore tax was up 11%, providing an annualised return on tangible\nequity of 18.4% - both excluding notable items. We had a strong performance in Transaction Banking, in particular\nin Foreign Exchange, and in our Equities and Debt trading\nbusinesses, both of which benefitted from higher client activity on\nthe back of higher volatility. In Wealth, we had our fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit\ngrowth, attracting net new invested assets of US$22bn. We have momentum in our earnings, discipline in the execution of\nour strategy and confidence in our ability to deliver our\ntargets. This confidence enabled us to announce an up to US$3bn share\nbuy-back alongside a US$0.10 interim dividend per\nshare. Let me briefly set out where we began when I became CEO last\nSeptember, where we are now and where we're going\nnext. I inherited a bank built on firm foundations. We were clear on what\nwe do. It was the right time to address how we do it. In October, I announced the simplification of the organisation,\nwith the objective to align our structure with our strategy. In\nshort, we are creating a simple, more agile HSBC, with a greater\nfocus on our customers, driving higher levels of satisfaction and\ndelivering attractive returns to you, our\nshareholders. In February, we set out our targets. We're targeting a mid-teens teens return on tangible equity for\n2025, 2026 and 2027, excluding notable items. And we reaffirmed\nthis guidance on Tuesday. In particular, in Hong Kong and the UK - our home markets - we will\ninvest in wealth centres, increase the number of our relationship\nmanagers and enhance our digital capabilities to improve customer\nexperience. For UK SMEs, we will enhance our coverage efforts and improve our\nproduct proposition, alongside our customer service\ncapabilities. A core enabler of all of these efforts is technology. This includes the use of AI, generative AI, data and analytics to\nimprove process efficiency and help protect customers against fraud\nand cybercrime. As I said on Tuesday, we are focused on executing our strategy with\ndiscipline and remain on track to deliver the actions we have set\nout. Clearly the external macroeconomic environment is less favourable\nand more uncertain now than in February. Our balance sheet and capital positions are strong, we have a\nfantastic deposit franchise and a high-quality credit portfolio,\nour earnings are resilient, diversified and of high quality, and we\nknow that during times of both predictability and unpredictability,\nour customers look for the strength, stability and expertise we\nbring as their trusted partner. That's what gives us the confidence to reaffirm the guidance we\ngave in February. We are extremely well positioned to support all of our customers,\nwherever they are, however their needs evolve and whatever the\nmarket conditions. Before I conclude, let me address a topic that is important to us,\nand to many of you and the communities we serve around the world:\nsustainability. We remain committed to our ambition of becoming a net zero bank by\n2050. We set this ambition in 2020, and we have made good progress\ntowards it. We have been helping our customers decarbonise, providing and\nfacilitating around US$400bn of sustainable financing and\ninvestment since the start of 2020. And we continue to see opportunities, including through financing\nthe provision of safe sustainable energy to meet the growing\ndemands of the new technology age. Progress towards our ambition will depend on the pace of\ndecarbonisation in the real economy. We are present in many of the sectors and markets where the\nchallenges are the greatest, and where progress has been\nuneven. We know how important this is. That's why, as we reach the mid-point of our journey towards our\n2030 interim targets, we've begun a review of our interim financed\nemissions targets and associated policies. This is part of the\nannual review of our net zero transition plan referred to in our\nAnnual Report and Accounts. We expect to publish the results of this review later this year and\nwe look forward to continuing to engage with all\nstakeholders. To conclude, I would like to thank our Board of Directors for their\nstrong stewardship of the Group, and the support they have given me\nand my executive team. In particular, I would like to thank our Chairman, Mark\nTucker. Mark, this is your last AGM for HSBC and you leave the Group in a\nposition of strength, from which we look to the future with\nconfidence. You have been a great mentor and partner in guiding and coaching me\nall the time we have worked together. The wisdom and advice you have shared will inspire me for many\nyears to come. Thank you for all you have done for HSBC. I would also like to thank all my colleagues across the Group for\nthe support they have given me since becoming CEO. I have been inspired by the hard work, dedication and expertise\nthey bring to their roles. And the passion they have for supporting\nour customers. They are what makes this organisation so exceptional. Media enquiries to: Press Office \n +44 (0) 20 7991 8096 pressoffice@hsbc.com Investor enquiries to: Neil Sankoff \n +44 (0)20 7991 5072 \n investorrelations@hsbc.com Note to editors: HSBC Holdings plc HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in\nLondon. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 58\ncountries and territories. With assets of US$3,054bn at\n31 March 2025, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and\nfinancial services organisations ends/all SIGNATURE Pursuant\nto the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the\nregistrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf\nby the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. HSBC\nHoldings plc By: Name:\nAileen Taylor Title:\nGroup Company Secretary and Chief Governance Officer Date:\n02 May 2025", "source": "edgar", "stratum": "edgar", "fetch_date": "", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1089113/000165495425005028/a2384h.htm"} |