HSBC expected to announce £12bn rights issue

HSBC, which is set to announce full-year profits this week, is expected to reveal plans for a £12 billion rights issue - the largest ever held in Britain.

The bank, which is Europe’s largest, is expected to disclose a 22% fall in 2008 profits. Last August, it revealed a 28% fall in half-year profits despite it being relatively unscathed by the credit crisis due to its focus on emerging markets business.

Last autumn it declined financial assistance from the UK Government and said it could not envisage circumstances where it would require such help.

It is also the only UK bank not to have asked investors for cash, other banks in the UK have tapped investors for cash via rights issues or, in the case of Barclays, looked to Middle East investors.

Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS have both received financial aid from the Government.

HSBC’s Tier-one ratio, a key measure of financial strength, was at 8.9% at the end of September but is expected to rise to 10.5%.

Finally, the board of HSBC has decided to waive its bonuses in light of the rights issue, which includes a bonus of around £1 million for Michael Geoghegan, the bank’s chief executive.

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