Group remains fundamentally strong, says ratings agency

HSBC is looking robust as per the financial research company Standard & Poor's Ratings Services which has rated the bank as 'stable'. Ratings on HSBC were affirmed, denoting that the Group was the only one of twelve banks not to have its credit rating downgraded.

Strong fundamentals

• HSBC's excellent funding and liquidity, robust capitalisation, diverse earnings base, and manageable exposures to illiquid trading assets are key strengths in the current environment
• Although high impairment losses from its US consumer finance business have been a "significant headwind" to the Group's earnings, they have to date been mitigated by dynamic results in Asia and the Middle East
• With economic growth slowing across the world, it expects revenue pressure across all regions in 2009
• It expects HSBC to remain "comfortably profitable", with a strong performance relative to its global peers

Differentiated position

The Bank will continue to focus on maintaining its differentiated position in financial strength -- all its subsidiaries benefit from membership of a Group with HSBC's strength.

Standard & Poor's agrees that the Bank remains fundamentally strong. "We expect HSBC to remain capital generative which, in combination with its strong funding and liquidity and robust capitalisation, is a key rating strength in this unfavourable economic and market environment," it writes.

13 January 2009