HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA)

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs downgraded HSBC (NYSE: HBC ) from Buy to Neutral and removed the stock from their Asia Pacific Conviction Buy List. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - CLSA

HSBC's low fourth quarter dividend should only upset its stock price more," said CLSA analyst Daniel Tabbush. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - New York Times - DealBook

From Julia Werdigier, a DealBook colleague: LONDON — Amid all that pressure on banking executives to waive their bonuses for another year, HSBC 's top management reacted Monday by telling each other across continents how underpaid they think they are. First, HSBC's chairman Stephen K. Green said he thought the bank's chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, was not being paid enough. "I believe Mike to be underpaid," Mr. Green said at a news conference in London to discuss the bank's weak 2009 financial results . 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - Mark Phin at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

"Asia will lead the way, and take an increasingly influential role on the global stage, while the developed economies are "stuck in first gear and still in danger of stalling." HSBC shares were down about 5 percent in midday trading in London. Mark Phin, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, called the earnings report "over all, a slightly weaker set of numbers than we had hoped." The bank said its profit for 2009 rose 1.9 percent to $5.8 billion, from $5.7 billion a year earlier. The median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for $7.76 billion. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - Simon Maughan at MF Global Securities

The bank plans to trade its shares in Shanghai and moved Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan to Hong Kong from London last month to sharpen its focus on Asia. HSBC halted consumer finance loans in the US after racking up provisions of at least $70bn in the past four years following its acquisition of US subprime lender Household International Inc. "There were a lot of people who were pushing the stock up as a top stock for this year," said Simon Maughan, an analyst at MF Global Securities Ltd, who has a "neutral" recommendation on the bank. "The environment isn't there to develop these earnings." Bonus to charity HSBC fell 2.93pc to 698.5 pence as of 8:47am in London, the biggest decline in the FTSE 350 Index of five UK banks. Geoghegan plans to give as much as £4m of his bonus to children's charities, according to a separate emailed statement 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - FT Alphaville

A slightly farcical start to Prudential's attempt to buy the Asian life operations of AIG — and turn itself into the HSBC of the insurance world. The company, which the Wall Street Journal describes as a medium sized U.K life insurance and asset management company with substantial operations in Asia, has confirmed talks with AIA, but that's about it. All we have officially learnt is that the mooted $35bn deal won't be structured as a reverse takeover, according to Prudential's statement: There can be no certainty that these discussions will lead to any agreement or as to the terms or timing of any such agreement. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - Ronit Ghose at Citigroup Global

Shares of HSBC have risen nearly 4% since that announcement. Citi analyst Ronit Ghose said in a note to clients that investors have been attracted to HSBC by the U.S credit improvement story and that the market "is primed for good news" on bad debt charges. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - Jason Napier at Deutsche Bank

In a note, Deutsche Bank analyst Jason Napier thinks the bank's capital is adequate and its strong is liquidity Accordingly, investors are likely to be more interested in evidence that it can maintain its earnings power, particularly within the investment banking business, said Napier. Analysts expect HSBC's profit from investment banking to have declined compared to the first half of the year as trading activity decreased. Howdver, SocGen's Lee said he's hoping for what would be a relatively modest 15% drop in revenue as a greater proportion of the unit's revenue comes from financing activities rather than the more volatile trading activity. Reliance on the latter resulted in sharper declines for other European and U.S investment banks. Simon Kennedy is the City correspondent for MarketWatch in London. 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - New York Times - DealBook

HSBC Holdings is likely to back down on plans to give Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan a pay increase of as much as 40 percent in 2010 after investors opposed the plan, a person briefed on the discussions told Bloomberg News. The proposal would have increased Mr Geoghegan's base salary to as much as 15 million pounds this year from £11 million ($17 million) in 2009, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are private Finance Director Douglas Flint would have received a similar percentage increase on his £700,000 salary, the person told the news service 

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA) - John Aiken at Barclays Capital

The Big Six start reporting in a few weeksCI Capital Markets analyst Brad Smith thinks HSBC Canada's margins bode well for the Bix Six (TD, Scotia, Royal, CIBC, BMO and National)Overall, HSBC reported a 16 basis point (bps) net interest margin expansion, compared to a 3 bps increase during the previous quarter A similar expansion for the Big Six in Q1 would equate to roughly $600 million in incremental quarterly earnings, Mr Smith notedOver at Barclays Capital, John Aiken focused on trading revenues