bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Hong Kong banks are expected to report growth of at least 8 to 10 per cent in their core earnings for 2012.
Analysts said this growth was partly because of increasing income from trading and fee-based services as market sentiment improved in the second half of the year.
Bank of East Asia (BEA), the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, is scheduled to announce its full-year results today, kicking off the reporting season for listed banks.
Steven Chan, an analyst at Citic Securities, said most Hong Kong banks hoped to post high growth in core earnings thanks to lower funding costs last year.
Lower credit costs could be a potential source of positive earnings surprises, as asset quality remains good both in Hong Kong and on the mainland despite slower economic growth, a research report by Barclays said.
It estimated that average earnings for Hong Kong banks last year grew 8 per cent.
The competition for deposits, once a tough game among major players in Hong Kong, became less intense in the second half of the year, analysts said.
As a result, they said, net interest margin will widen slightly. Net interest margin is the difference between loan income and the cost of funds relative to interest-earning assets.
BEA, which achieved record earnings for 2011 and the first half of last year, is expected to set another record for 2012; however, earnings in the second half may be lower than in the first half.
Estimates by investment banks including CLSA, Barclays, Citi and BNP Paribas for BEA's net profit last year range from HK$4.74 billion to HK$5.21 billion, up 17 to 19 per cent from a year earlier.
Barclays also expects BEA to post slower mainland-related loan growth and a better capital position after a HK$3.3 billion private placement to its shareholder, the Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui, in December.
BEA's bigger competitor, HSBC, is scheduled to post its results on March 4. After 46 sales of assets and closures of businesses globally since 2011, HSBC is now a more streamlined business, and the challenge for HSBC's chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, is to restructure the bank to allow it to raise its return on equity to 12 to 15 per cent and core capital ratio to 9.5 to 10.5 per cent and lower its cost-to-income ratio to 48 to 52 per cent by the end of this year.
In a Bloomberg survey, the mean estimate by 43 brokers of HSBC's earnings was US$0.88 per share, with mean pretax profit estimated at US$23.2 billion.
HSBC's subsidiary Hang Seng Bank will post its results on the same day.
Standard Chartered will post its results on March 5. The bank reported in December that profit excluding one-off items last year was expected to grow at a rate in the high single digits from 2011.
Profit before tax was expected to grow at a rate in the mid-single digits, taking into account US$667 million the bank had to pay in the United States to settle money laundering charges.
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research report they expected this year to be a year of capital return, with most Hong Kong banks raising dividend payouts.
 

REPORT BOOK
February 26: Bank of East Asia
March 4: HSBC, Hang Seng Bank
March 5: Standard Chartered
March 7: Chong Hing Bank, Wing Hang Bank
Mid-March: Dah Sing Bank, Dah Sing Financial
Late March: Bank of China


Expectations high as results season begins for banks

Bank of East Asia is due to kick off the reporting season for Hong Kong banks today, with analysts expecting slower growth. Photo: Robert Ng

Unscathed Bank of East Asia to kick off earnings season

Bank of East Asia chairman and chief executive David Li Kwok-po. Photo: May Tse

BEA has sailed through the past year largely untroubled, while other banks have been fined for Libor manipulation. Photo: Bloomberg

Business

Banking & Finance

Banks start to reveal their earnings figures for 2012 from today, with analysts expecting to see them unveil growth of at least 8 to 10 per cent


Bank of East Asia (BEA), the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, is scheduled to announce its full-year results today, kicking off the reporting season for listed banks.


Expectations high as results season begins for banks

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Banks start to reveal their earnings figures for 2012 from today, with analysts expecting to see them unveil growth of at least 8 to 10 per cent

Banks start to reveal their earnings figures for 2012 from today, with analysts expecting to see them unveil growth of at least 8 to 10 per cent