Financial news
Written by: Jingjing He
2020-02-18 17:41
Last updated: 2020-02-18 17:46Hang Seng (0011) today announced its full-year results for 2019. Profit attributable to shareholders increased by 3% year-on-year to 24.84 billion yuan, slightly lower than market forecasts.
Zheng Huimin, the vice chairman and chief executive officer of Hang Seng Bank, said on the conference call that the operating environment of the banking industry last year was unsatisfactory and he was pleased to have solid performance. Looking ahead to this year, it is believed that the outbreak of the new coronavirus has severely affected the economic activities of the Mainland and Hong Kong. It is feared that any prolonged economic slowdown will put pressure on the bank's expected credit loss forecast.
However, she pointed out that the specific impact of the epidemic is more difficult to say. If it lasts for a short time like SARS, and the economy rebounds later, it is expected that the impact on Hang Seng ’s performance will be slight. Pay close attention to changes in the future epidemic situation, but believe that it will not affect the Group's long-term strategy.
The future development of Hang Seng's Mainland-related business maintained a good momentum last year. The total operating income of Hang Seng China increased by 17% last year, mainly due to the overall growth of the balance sheet, coupled with the prudent management of credit risk and operating expenses, which led to an increase in profit before taxation. Nearly doubled. She pointed out that it is expected that the epidemic will affect the business of Hang Seng China this year, but because this part accounts for a small proportion of the entire group's performance, it does not think that it will have a large impact on the overall performance.
Zheng Huimin said that the impact of the epidemic was unexpected. (Hang Seng)
Chief Financial Officer Liang Yongle added that the impact of the epidemic is temporary, but if the epidemic continues, economists will be pessimistic about the overall unemployment rate, property price trends, GDP growth rate, etc., or the model of expected credit losses will be adjusted significantly. . However, he emphasized that Hang Seng has always been conservative and prudent in borrowing strategies.
In terms of dividend policy, he said that the long-term goal is to hope for a steady increase in the absolute number of dividends. However, if the situation is particularly bad, there is a chance to shrink it. It is necessary to consider the future economic situation, whether there are regulatory adjustments, and whether there will be more. A series of factors such as the development of capital.
Hang Seng made 24.84 billion yuan last year slightly worse than the fourth interim dividend of 4 yuan per share
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No layoffs and frozen pay plans
When asked whether the operating environment is expected to be poor this year, Zheng Huimin pointed out that employees are important assets of the company, and currently there are no plans for layoffs and high-level pay freezes. Although the company is very cautious about cost control, it will invest in the development direction of the company's business focus, such as continuously hiring information technology talents. She also pointed out that although the epidemic caused customers to use more online banking services and reduce the use of branches, the transaction volume at branch counters was reduced by 45% compared with before the Lunar New Year. In February, online banking transaction volume increased by double digits monthly, but the Group No plans to close branches will continue to serve customers in all directions.
Hang Seng Bank