HSBC Holdings, plc. (HSBC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to HSBC Holdings PLC's 2025 Annual Results Webinar for Investors and Analysts. For your information, today's webinar is being recorded. At this time, I will hand the call over to George L. Hedery, Group CEO. Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us. As we celebrate the year of the horse Kung Hei Fat Choy, Our 2025 full-year performance was strong. It was a year in which we performed, transformed, and invested for growth. I will discuss our strong strategic progress today. First, the strong momentum in our 2025 performance. Second, the execution of our three strategic priorities where we are progressing at pace and with discipline. And third, the new growth and return targets we are setting out today for 2026, 2027 and 2028. So first, the full year earnings. My comments will exclude notable items and the comparisons will be year on year on a constant currency basis. In 2025, there were $6.7 billion of notable items. You are already aware of these from prior quarters. They are set out on Appendix Slide 36. First, we delivered strong earnings. Group revenues grew 5%. Profit before tax rose 7%, reaching a record $36.6 billion. Return on tangible equity was 17.2%. And we delivered 3% cost growth on the target basis in 2025, in line with our cost targets. Second, we delivered strong growth. Our deposit balances grew 5% with deposit growth in each of our four businesses. Our deposit base is a core strength. It contributes the lion's share of our banking NII. We also grew fee and other income. In transaction banking, it grew by 4%. elevated market activity, demonstrating the power of our deep international network, which gives access to 86% of world trade flows, alongside our product and service expertise. In wealth, it grew by 24%, reflecting...