HSBC Holdings, plc. (HSBC) Q1 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Analyst and Investor webinar on the first quarter results for HSBC Holdings PLC. For your information, this webinar is being recorded. I will now hand over to Georges El Hedery, Group CEO. Welcome all to today's call. I'm joined here in London by Pam. Before Pam takes you through the numbers, I would like to begin with some opening remarks. Overall, there was a strong quarter marked by three key drivers. Momentum in our earnings, discipline in our execution, and confidence in our ability to deliver our targets. First, we have strong momentum in our business. We had a strong first quarter with profit before tax up 11% and an annualized return on tangible equity of 18.4%, both excluding notable items. We had our fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in wealth and attracted net new invested assets of $22 billion, as well as another 300,000 new-to-bank customers in Hong Kong continuing the trend from last year. We also had a strong performance in transaction banking, in particular in FX, and in our equities and debt trading businesses, benefiting from higher client activity on the back of higher volatility. Second, we remain focused on executing our strategy with discipline and are on track to deliver the cost actions we set out in February. We are progressing at pace to deliver on the simplification related cost saves as well as the strategic cost reallocations. We also continue to take a disciplined approach to our investments and capital allocation to drive growth across our four businesses. We will provide you with a full update on this at the half year results in July. Third, The external macroeconomic environment is less favourable and more uncertain than it was in February, as the uncertainty around trade policy dam...