HSBC India's profit before tax rises 11.27% to $1.68 billion in 2024

HSBC India has reported a profit before tax of $1.68 billion in 2024, up almost up 11.27 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from $1.51 billion last year, led by gains in the wealth and personal banking segment, commercial banking, and global banking and markets.

 

Profits from the wealth and personal banking segment amounted to $96 million, while profits from global banking and markets were $875 million. Profits from commercial banking stood at $448 million, and profits from the corporate centre totalled $269 million.

 

HSBC India ranks just behind the UK and Hong Kong in terms of profit, as mainland China and Canada saw elevated profits due to one-time gains and profits from associates. Overall, the London-headquartered bank has reported a profit before tax of $32.3 billion in 2024, up $2 billion from last year.

   

In 2024, the bank saw a gain of $4.8 billion from the disposal of its banking business in Canada, a loss of $1 billion from the disposal of its business in Argentina, and recycling of foreign currency reserve losses and other reserves of $5.2 billion.

 

“In India, we reported a profit before tax of $1.7 billion. We aim to continue growing our wholesale franchise by taking advantage of corporate supply chains,” said the bank in its annual report.

 

“We are also tapping into the wealth pools of the Indian diaspora through global private banking. In 2024, we remained the top foreign bank for non-resident Indians in wealth,” the report added.

 

Meanwhile, in January 2025, HSBC India received approval to open 20 branches, the largest such approval for a foreign bank in over a decade. This comes nearly nine years after the bank decided to close 24 branches in 14 cities as part of a strategy to consolidate its network and shift more retail and wealth management business to the online channel.

 

With the addition of 20 branches, HSBC India’s total branches in the country will go up to 46. HSBC, back in 2016, had 50 branches in the country before it decided to shut down 26 branches. The opening of new branches is a clear shift in strategy for the London-headquartered bank.

 

The cities where HSBC India will open branches include Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Faridabad, Indore, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mysuru, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Patna, Rajkot, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam.

 

“In India, we received approval earlier this year to open bank branches in 20 new cities that are at the centre of the expanding wealth and international opportunity. We will continue to focus on and invest in growth opportunities where we have a clear competitive advantage,” said Sir Mark E Tucker, group chairman, HSBC.

 

“Over the longer term, the demographic dividend will benefit countries like India and markets across South and Southeast Asia,” Tucker added.