The HSBC Holdings plc Directors have approved a third interim dividend in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2026 of $0.10 per ordinary share (the ‘dividend‘), an expected distribution of approximately $1.71bn. The dividend will be payable on 17 December 2026 to holders of record on the Principal Register in the UK, the Hong Kong Overseas Branch Register or the Bermuda Overseas Branch Register on 6 November 2026.
Other financial highlights include:
Profit before tax increased by $2.3bn or 32% to $9.6bn compared with 3Q25, primarily due to a net favourable impact from notable items of $1.4bn, which reflected the non-recurrence of legal provisions in 3Q25 of $1.4bn. The increase also reflected growth in revenue, mainly from banking net interest income (‘banking NII’) and lower expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (‘ECL’). Profit after tax increased by $2.1bn or 38% to $7.6bn compared with 3Q25.
– Constant currency profit before tax excluding notable items increased by $0.9bn to $10.0bn compared with 3Q25.
– Annualised return on average tangible equity (‘RoTE‘) in 3Q26 was 17.7% compared with 12.3% in 3Q25. Excluding notable items, annualised RoTE in 3Q26 was 18.2%, a rise of 1.6 percentage points compared with 3Q25.
– Revenue increased by $0.8bn to $18.6bn compared with 3Q25, primarily reflecting growth in banking NII. Fee and other income also increased in our Corporate and Institutional Banking (‘CIB’) business in Wholesale Transaction Banking (‘WTB’) and in Debt and Equity Markets, supported by higher customer activity, and in Investment Distribution and Private Bank in Wealth. This was partly offset by valuation losses in Corporate Centre and the non-recurrence of one-off favourable impacts in 3Q25 in Insurance. Constant currency revenue excluding notable items rose by $0.8bn to $18.7bn.
– Net interest income (‘NII’) of $9.3bn increased by $0.5bn or 6% compared with 3Q25. The increase reflected deposit balance growth and the benefit of reinvestment of our structural hedge at higher yields, partly offset by lower NII from Markets Treasury and an adverse impact of $0.1bn from one-off items in 3Q26. Banking NII increased by $0.6bn to $11.7bn. Banking NII excludes insurance NII, which fell by $0.1bn, and the funding costs associated with the trading book, which remained broadly stable.
– Net interest margin (‘NIM’) of 1.57% was stable compared with 3Q25.
– ECL of $0.8bn decreased by $0.2bn or 17% compared with 3Q25, primarily reflecting a $0.1bn reduction in stage 3 charges related to the Hong Kong commercial real estate (‘CRE’) sector, as well as lower charges in our UK business and International Wealth and Premier Banking (‘IWPB’) business in Mexico.
– Operating expenses of $8.8bn were $1.3bn or 12% lower compared with 3Q25. This included a favourable net impact of $1.4bn from notable items, which reflected the non-recurrence of legal provisions in 3Q25. Excluding notable items, the increase in operating expenses primarily reflected the impact of inflation, higher planned spend and investment in technology, and the phasing of the performance-related pay accrual relative to 3Q25, partly mitigated by the cost reduction benefits from our organisational simplification. Target basis operating expenses were $0.1bn or 1.4% higher than in 3Q25, including the impact of inflation and higher planned spend and investment in technology, partly offset by the cost reduction benefits from our organisational simplification.
– Customer lending balances increased by $7.8bn compared with 2Q26 on a reported basis. On a constant currency basis, lending balances increased by $6.7bn. This primarily reflected growth as we supported our customers to participate in the India Foreign Currency Non-Resident Deposit scheme, together with growth in our UK and Hong Kong businesses. This was partly offset by the classification to held for sale of lending balances associated with the exit of our retail banking business in Australia in our IWPB business.
– Customer accounts increased by $9.1bn compared with 2Q26 on a reported basis. On a constant currency basis, customer accounts increased by $6.5bn, reflecting continued momentum in deposit inflows in our Hong Kong business. In our IWPB business, deposit growth was mainly in India, as we facilitated customer participation in the India Foreign Currency Non-Resident Deposit scheme. This growth was partly offset by retail deposit outflows following our announced exit of our retail banking business in Australia. In CIB, lower deposit balances reflected outflows of short-term balances.
– Common equity tier 1 (‘CET1’) capital ratio of 13.9% decreased by 0.2 percentage points compared with 30 June 2026, reflecting an increase in risk-weighted assets (‘RWAs‘), together with a decrease in the fair value of hold-to-collect-and-sell debt instruments due to higher yields and the impact of the share buy-back announced at our interim results, partly offset by regulatory profits net of dividends.
