(April 3): HSBC chairman Mark Tucker told the bank's shareholders in Hong Kong on Wednesday a spin-off of its Asian business will not happen.

"There is no appetite among our shareholder base, as demonstrated by last year's annual general meeting results, to vote for a spin-off. That will not happen," Tucker said in the meeting, in response to a shareholder's question.

HSBC defeated a resolution last year from Hong Kong-based shareholders and backed by major investor Ping An to potentially spin off its lucrative business in Asia.

At the time, the company said the majority of its institutional and retail investor base backed the board and the structure of the bank.

The bank in February reported that its 2023 pre-tax profit jumped 78% to US$30.3 billion (RM144.13 billion) from a year ago, but still missed a consensus estimate of US$34.1 billion, largely due to a US$3 billion impairment on its stake in China's Bank of Communications.

HSBC had also announced a new US$2 billion buy-back, an annual dividend of 61 US cents per share, and the intention to pay a special dividend of 21 US cents per share once it completes the sale of its Canadian business.