Brexit' Vote Batters British Banks in Hong Kong
24 Juni 2016 - 7:30AM
Dow Jones News
HONG KONG—Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC
plunged Friday in Hong Kong trading as investors weighed the
fallout on London-headquartered banks of a U.K. vote to exit the
European Union.
HSBC's shares plummeted 11.1% in midday Hong Kong trading, while
Standard Chartered shares fell more than 12%. Shares dropped
sharply throughout morning trading as results rolled in from the
U.K. HSBC was the worst-performing stock in the city's Hang Seng
Index for the day so far.
While HSBC and Standard Chartered are known for their operations
in Asia and elsewhere across the globe, they still have their
headquarters and big businesses in the U.K. The drop in the British
pound and a range of other prospective difficulties could arise for
the lenders, hurting their revenue and increasing costs.
HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said earlier this the year
the U.K. lender may have to move 1,000 jobs to Paris if Britain
leaves the EU. The bank, which has generally been viewed by
analysts and investors as a steady stock, underperformed the
overall Hang Seng Index, which fell 4.7%.
Standard Chartered's share performance has already been battered
this year after recording its first full-year loss since 1989. The
bank, which relies heavily on Asia and commodities for returns, in
February reported a $2.36 billion loss and warned that earnings
would remain subdued this year as it overhauls its operations.
Morning losses also spread to U.K. insurer Prudential PLC, whose
Hong Kong shares suffered a similarly sharp decline of 11%.
Shares in Asian regional lenders, such as DBS Group Holdings
Ltd., fared better but still took big hits. Bank of China Ltd., the
most international of the Chinese state banks, fell about 4% in
Hong Kong trading.
The Hang Seng China H-Financials Index, which tracks 20 Chinese
financial stocks, is also down 4.4%.
Julie Steinberg contributed to this article.
Write to Kane Wu at Kane.Wu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2016 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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