(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said he hopes the bank's latest quarterly performance has been greeted positively by Ping An Insurance Group Co., a key Chinese shareholder that earlier pushed for a breakup of the UK bank.
HSBC's returns have been strong for the first nine months of the year, with about 17% return on tangible equity, Quinn said in a briefing with journalists. The bank reported pretax profit more than doubled in the three months through September from a year earlier.
“We're hoping Ping An and all of our shareholders will be pleased with that outcome,” Quinn said. “We see strong capital generation and I think that will please our institutional shareholders as well, both in the form of dividends and buybacks.”
For months, Ping An waged a campaign to pressure HSBC to increase returns, arguing for the lender's Asian business to be carved out into a separate company. But in May, shareholders voted to reject proposals to shake up the bank that were put forward by a group of Hong Kong-based investors.
HSBC said Monday that third-quarter pretax profit surged to $7.71 billion, but still fell slightly short of analyst estimates. The stock, which Ping An had criticized as undervalued, has risen about 18% this year. The bank also expanded its buyback plan.
For more on HSBC Third-Quarter Results, Analyst Call, click here for our TOPLive blog.
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