HSBC’s takeover of Hang Seng Bank has been 60 years in the making. Chief executive Georges Elhedery wasn’t even born when the bank first took a stake in its Hong Kong-based rival. On Thursday he announced plans to buy full control of Hang Seng for $13.6bn. Investors were spooked by the news; they should instead take a similarly long-term view.
The 6 per cent fall in HSBC’s share price after the deal was announced may have a lot to do with how it’s being funded: Elhedery plans to pause share buybacks for the next three financial quarters. Bank investors prize chunky capital returns, and that’s especially true for HSBC. Its army of retail investors like the combination of cash payments and guaranteed earnings per share growth, so it is unsurprising to see a bad initial reaction.
But it’s worth remembering that buybacks are generally a signal that companies cannot see anything better to do with the money. That case is much easier to make when their equity looks cheap. When HSBC’s shares were trading at a fraction of book value, repurchases gave a big boost to earnings per share, but since the stock has more than doubled in three years, the calculation has changed.