By Joe Wallace

Is the world's biggest trade-finance bank worried by President Trump's latest tariff broadside, a 10% global levy that took effect this week?

Not at all, judging by HSBC Chief Executive Georges Elhedery's comments after the bank reported better-than-expected earnings for 2025.

"Trade has been resilient," Elhedery said of 12 months of on, off and on again tariffs. Supply chains reconfigured, he added, with a particularly sharp increase in trade within Asia. That's a boon for HSBC, which makes most of its profit in the region.

What's more, "trade in services has been growing much faster than trade in goods" and has largely been unaffected by tariffs, said Elhedery.

HSBC has a central role in global trade. Though a major slowdown in commerce could damage the business of funding shipments, swapping currencies and processing payments, the London-headquartered bank stands to benefit if tariffs lead to more convoluted trading patterns.

That appeared to be the case last year after Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs. Elhedery pointed to growth in trade-related fees and lending compared with 2024.

Overall, HSBC's pretax profit for the final three months of 2025 topped analyst estimates. Elhedery set out new revenue and return targets through 2028, and said the bank could earn up to $900 million in additional profit by the end of that year from its recent takeover of Hong Kong bank Hang Seng.

Shares rose almost 5% in London after the results, the first full-year figures since Elhedery took over and started shaking up the lender.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 25, 2026 05:49 ET (10:49 GMT)

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