HSBC Targets Conservative Return to Dividends on Profit Beat
- Shareholder payouts could resume with full-year results
- CFO Stevenson says any dividend won’t be a ‘token’ payment
HSBC shares jumped in Hong Kong and London.
Photographer: Roy Liu/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
HSBC Holdings Plc has given the clearest sign yet that it will aim to pay a full-year dividend, as losses stemming from the pandemic ebbed and helped Europe’s biggest bank beat third-quarter earnings estimates.
HSBC said it would pay a “conservative dividend” if allowed, the latest lender to push for an end to the British authorities’ ban on shareholder handouts introduced in March to ensure U.K. banks could weather the crisis. Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson said it would not be a “token” amount when asked about the likely size of any payout.