HSBC shares slide amid funding worries
15-01-2009
HSBC shares fell sharply on Wednesday as analysts forecast that the bank is likely to halve its dividend and may need to raise up to US$30 billion in a rights issue. Morgan Stanley said the bank's earnings will fall this year and its relative capital position is not as strong as in the past. "Our detailed study of HSBC's capital and asset quality position reinforces our belief that it will have to halve the dividend and raise major capital in 2009," Morgan Stanley analysts said. HSBC shares fell eight percent in London. Earlier, in Hong Kong, they were down 4.1 percent. HSBC has not had to raise capital during the financial crisis, unlike most big rivals, due to its historically strong capital and liquidity. But it is facing increasing scrutiny over any potential need to raise funds as the economy worsens. "Historically, HSBC has carried about 120 basis points of surplus capital at the group level - this has now all but gone at a time when we think it better for the buffer to have increased," said the Morgan Stanley report. "We believe HSBC is highly likely to cut the dividend in 2009, and in our bear case we now pencil in a US$29.2 billion rights issue." It cut earnings forecasts for the group and said it did not expect recovery until 2011 at the earliest.
