HSBC chief unexpectedly quits

HSBC Holdings Plc’s Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn is stepping down, an unexpected move that comes as Europe’s largest lender tries to navigate the deterioration of ties between China and the US.

The board has begun a formal process to find a successor, and will consider both internal and external candidates, according to a statement Tuesday. Quinn will stay on during this process to ensure a smooth and orderly transition, it said.

During his tenure, Quinn led a series of strategic reviews that culminated in a plan to boost the bank’s investment in its Asian business, while cutting back in developed Western markets such as the US and France. The company is committed to that strategy going forward, even as tensions continue to flare between Beijing and other developed markets around the world.

“This comes as a surprise, especially given Quinn’s relatively short tenure during which he has led the bank through significant changes,” said Will Howlett, a financial analyst at Quilter Cheviot. “The departure of Quinn introduces an element of uncertainty about the bank’s future leadership at a time when HSBC is navigating a complex global financial landscape.”

Quinn said he began thinking more seriously about departing the bank over the Christmas holiday in December and he ultimately informed HSBC’s Chairman Mark Tucker about his intention to retire in recent weeks. Tucker is aiming to wrap up the CEO search by the second half of the year.

“Doing this job, you have to give 100% — if not 120% — of your energy, your mindset, your time to the role,” Quinn said on the conference call with journalists. “You can keep doing that, but that doesn’t necessarily achieve the balance in life that I wanted.”

Under Quinn’s leadership, HSBC’s returns have soared and profits touched a record last year. The company’s stock has risen 35% since he took over at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, compared with the 53% advance of the FTSE All-Share Index. 

The bank on Tuesday reported first-quarter pretax profits of $12.65 billion. While that was a small dip from a year earlier, it topped the $12.6 billion average consensus estimate compiled by the company. The lender also announced it’s planning to buy back $3 billion worth of shares in the coming months, which was 50% more than what some analysts were expecting. 

HSBC shares climbed 3.4% at 9:27 a.m. in London.

Quinn’s unexpected exit “will pave the way for HSBC’s next stage, to capture Asia growth, after the bank streamlined operations by restructuring and sold some businesses” under his watch, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tomasz Noetzel said in a note. “The new CEO will most likely need to demonstrate HSBC’s ability to expand non-interest income that was 4% below expectations” in the first quarter.

QUINN'S TENURE

This will be the third CEO search under Tucker, who took over as chairman at HSBC in October 2017.

The first came when Tucker appointed Quinn’s predecessor John Flint as CEO in 2018. He later handed Quinn the reins after he ousted Flint only 18 months after appointing the HSBC veteran to lead the bank amid disagreements over strategy. 

In 2022, Quinn said the promotion of former markets boss Georges Elhedery to chief financial officer was part of the bank’s long-term succession planning. At the time, he said his “ambition is to make sure there are no less than three and ideally four to five potential succession options that the board could consider within HSBC.”

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn is retiring in a shock announcement.

Here's a look back at his "best investment" and his advice for young people https://t.co/AydExLhRGS pic.twitter.com/fWew7woJhK

— Bloomberg (@business) April 30, 2024

Quinn began his banking career at British lender Midland Bank in 1987, which HSBC bought in 1992. He spent the majority of his career at HSBC working for the commercial banking unit. 

Quinn was granted “good leaver” status, meaning he’s still entitled to his deferred awards and they will continue to vest. That status is conditional on him not taking up a role with a defined list of competitors following his retirement, HSBC said in the statement. 

Quinn said he’s planning to pursue a so-called portfolio career, meaning he’ll seek multiple roles at different companies, after a period of “rest and relaxation.”

“We never felt he looked completely comfortable in the role and suspect that Covid was a particularly brutal period running an international business like HSBC,” Perlie Mong, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said in a note to clients. Still, she said, his departure is “surprising after only four years in the role, particularly as it took 7 months as ‘interim’ to actually get the job.”

Other highlights from HSBC’s first-quarter earnings:

• The company said it continues to expect its return on average tangible equity to be a percentage in the mid-teens for 2024, reiterating earlier guidance.
• Operating expenses jumped 7% to $8.2 billion, topping the $8 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The bank still expects costs to rise about 5% on a full-year basis.
• The bank’s net interest margin - a key measure of profitability that shows the difference between what a bank collects on loans and pays out to depositors - declined by 6 basis points to 1.63% compared with the same period a year earlier.

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