HSBC Holdings PLC on Feb. 23 reemphasized the role of Asia in its growth strategy as the banking group announced plans to invest around $6 billion in the region over next five years, focusing on wealth and wholesale banking.
The group on Feb. 23 said its full-year 2020 profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent company fell to $3.90 billion from $5.97 billion in 2019. For the fourth quarter 2020, the group reported $562 million of attributable profit, compared to a loss of $5.51 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The U.K.-based banking group said its Asia business remained the major contributor to profitability, delivering $13 billion of adjusted profit before tax in 2020. The group's global adjusted profits for 2020 amounted to $12.1 billion, down 45% from a year ago.
Within Asia, key regions that will be driving the growth are Greater China, Southeast Asia and India, said the group's Asia-Pacific CEO, Peter Wong. The growth in the Asia region will be driven by growth investment in wealth and international wholesale segments over the next five years.
HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said the group intends to increase its focus on the "strongest" areas: wealth and personal banking, commercial banking, and global banking and markets.
"The growth plans that we have developed are a natural progression of our February 2020 plans," Quinn said in a statement. "They aim to play to our strengths, especially in Asia; to accelerate our technology investment plans to deliver better customer service and increased productivity; to energize our business for growth; and to invest further in our own low-carbon transition and that of our customers."
The announcement came after Bloomberg News reported that the group will be relocating three top executives — Greg Guyett, co-head of global banking and markets; Nuno Matos, CEO of wealth and personal banking; and Barry O'Byrne, CEO of global commercial banking — to Asia as a part of its growth strategy. The executives are currently based in London and will move to Hong Kong. The group did not say anything about the reported relocation of the executives in its Feb. 23 statement.
HSBC is also planning to grow its operations in Singapore. In a Feb. 23 LinkedIn post, the lender announced the appointment of Kee Joo Wong as CEO of HSBC Singapore. Wong is currently the Asia-Pacific head for global liquidity and cash management. He will be replacing Tony Cripps, who will be joining Saudi British Bank.
"Singapore is central to our ambitious growth plans in the region," HSBC said in the post. "We will be increasing our investment in both people and technology as we continue to strengthen our wholesale banking services, particularly for multinational corporations headquartered in the country, and to grasp the growing wealth management opportunities in South East Asia and beyond."