by Selena Li and Lawrence White
Hong Kong (Reuters) – HSBC announced on Tuesday the launch of a share buyback program of $ 3 billion (2.64 billion euros) after having a fall of 25% of its profit in the first quarter and warned against commercial uncertainty in the face of the threat of American customs duties.
The bank, based in London, recorded a profit before taxes of $ 9.5 billion in the first quarter, after $ 12.7 billion last year and above the $ 7.8 billion expected by analysts in a consensus compiled by HSBC.
The group has announced $ 900 million in credit loss expected for the quarter and said that it could count an additional $ 500 million in a scenario where the increase in customs duties would slow down global growth.
“The macroeconomic environment is faced with increased uncertainty, in particular because of protectionist trade policies, which creates volatility of economic forecasts and financial markets and has a negative impact on the morale of consumers and businesses,” said HSBC in a statement.
The largest bank in Europe in terms of market capitalization has not changed its objective of average capital performance for each of the three years between 2025 and 2027, after reaching 14.6% in 2024.
The group also said that it will pay its first deposit on dividends of $ 0.1 per share, after $ 0.87 last year.
(Written by Selena Li to Hong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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