HSBC India recorded a 10.54 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in profit before tax (PBT) in calendar year 2025 (CY25) to nearly $1.9 billion, up from about $1.7 billion in CY24. India emerged as the second-largest contributor to the London-headquartered bank’s profit from Asia during the year, after Hong Kong, which reported a PBT of $13 billion.
Of the $1.9 billion pre-tax profit, about $1.5 billion came from the corporate and institutional banking (CIB) business, while International Wealth and Premier Banking (IWPB) contributed $88 million and the corporate centre accounted for $266 million, the annual report of HSBC showed.
“In India, we reported a profit before tax of $1.9bn and continued to be the largest foreign bank,” the bank said in its annual report, adding that it is the leading bank for multinational companies in India, of which around 50 per cent bank with it.
Overall, HSBC — Europe’s largest bank — reported a pre-tax profit of $29.91 billion for the year, beating analyst estimates. Having said that, the bank’s pre-tax profit in CY25 was down 7.4 per cent compared to last year’s pre-tax profit of $32.3 billion.
According to Georges Elhedery, Group CEO, HSBC Holdings plc, 2025 was a year of decisive action and swift execution, which is reflected in the bank’s strong performance. “Each of our four businesses performed well and we have strong momentum across the bank,” he said, adding that the bank is becoming simpler, more agile and more focused, and one that moves with the speed customers need to navigate the modern world.
Meanwhile, India continued to be the bank’s largest employee base, with 47,423 staff at the end of 2025. While the London-headquartered HSBC saw its global headcount decline to 208,720 in 2025 from 220,861 in 2023, its India workforce rose to 47,423 from 42,287 over the same period.
HSBC India’s deposit base, or customer accounts, increased to $28.73 billion in CY25 from $27.20 billion in the previous year. “In corporate and institutional banking (CIB), customer accounts increased by $10 billion, mainly driven by strong deposit momentum in Asia, including in mainland China and India,” the bank said.
In terms of assets, the London-headquartered bank’s total assets stood at $3.2 trillion in CY25, with loans and advances at $988 billion. For the year, in CIB, the bank’s customer lending increased by $7bn, driven by term-lending growth in its main legal entities in Asia, including Australia, India and Hong Kong.
HSBC India, in 2025, launched the HSBC Innovation Bank with a $1 billion financing pool and launched new digital propositions in Payments and Trade, the bank said, adding that its equity capital market (ECM) issuance grew more than 60 per cent in 2025 compared to last year.
“We expanded to four new cities with wealth and international potential, remained the top wealth manager across foreign banks and were the first bank to launch international wealth solutions in GIFT City,” it said.
Another London-headquartered bank, Standard Chartered Bank, reported its CY25 earnings this week. Its India unit’s pre-tax profit rose 15 per cent YoY to $542 million from $472 million last year. India was the fourth-highest contributor to the bank’s overall pre-tax profit.
