Profit before tax increased to $1.86 billion in 2025 from $1.68 billion a year ago with corporate and institutional banking making up $1.50 billion of the profit up 14% year on year from the $1.32 billion the division earned a year earlier. The corporate centre division which provides support services to the bank globally was the second largest profit contributor with pre tax profit of $266 million down 1% from $269 million in 2024.
India was the third most profitable market for HSBC behind Hong Kong ($13.02 billion) and UK ($5.52 billion) mainly because profits from mainland China fell 66% to $1.08 billion from $3.22 billion in 2024.
India remained HSBC’s largest employee base with 47,000 employees out of a total workforce of 2.09 lakh full-time employees, much higher than the 33,000 the bank had in the UK and mainland China.
In its annual report the bank said that about 50% of the multinational companies are serviced by HSBC in India where it launched HSBC Innovation Banking platform committing $1billion financing pool to fund start ups in the country.
Globally the bank reported a decline in annual profits, but the results were still higher than analysts’ expectations. The bank posted profit before tax of $29.91 billion for 2025, down 7% from $32.31 billion reported in 2024 but still ahead of expectations of $28.86 billion.
Group CEO Georges Elhedery said the bank has strong momentum and hence it is increasing its return on average tangible equity (RoTE) target to 17% in each year from 2026 to 2028. “We are also targeting year-on-year revenue growth over the same period on the same basis, rising to 5% in 2028. We are becoming a simple, more agile, focused bank, one that moves with the speed our customers need to navigate the modern world,” Elhedery said. The bank had recorded a RoTE of 13.3% at the end of 2025.Chairman Brendan Nelson said the bank expects the global economy to expand in 2026 as despite significant policy uncertainty, global trade is also set to grow, supported by the expansion of new trade corridors and the boom in AI hardware demand.
“Robust consumption and rising exports generated impressive growth in a number of markets, in ASEAN in particular. That combination is expected to continue in 2026. In India, domestic demand will likely be the main driver of growth, reflecting robust consumption, as well as ongoing government infrastructure investment,” Nelson said.