HSBC Says Global Tensions Mean Uncertainty After Profit Miss
- Investment bank revenue drops as CEO vows to keep lid on costs
- Lack of a new buyback program also disappoints some analysts
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HSBC Holdings Plc is bracing for riskier times after missing fourth-quarter earnings estimates, warning that political tensions in its key markets have made the prognosis for 2019 far less predictable.
Chief Executive Officer John Flint has vowed to keep a keener eye on costs while avoiding additional payouts to shareholders, after a disappointing quarter capped his first year in charge of Europe’s largest bank. Like its rivals, HSBC, which gets most of its business in Asia, was hit by the meltdown in financial markets, which pushed investment bank revenues lower. Its shares fell 4.3 percent in London trading, the most in about a year.