HSBC’s 2025 profit falls 7% but beats estimates despite property woes, Madoff lawsuits

HSBC Holdings, the largest banking group in Europe and Hong Kong by assets, on Wednesday reported a 7 per cent decline in profit last year, as bad debt in commercial property and lawsuits related to the Bernard Madoff fraud case offset strong growth in its wealth business. Pre-tax profit in 2025 dropped to US$29.9 billion from US$32.3 billion a year earlier, or US$1.21 per share, the lender said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The result was higher than analysts’ estimate of...

By Enoch Yiu