HSBC 2024 profits & ONS inflation figures: Positive Money response

Positive Money responds to HSBC’s announcement today that its full-year profits for 2024 rose to £25.6bn and on the Office for National Statistics’ reporting that Consumer Price Inflation was 3% in January 2025. 

On HSBC’s profits:

Hannah Dewhirst, Head of Campaigns at Positive Money, said:

“Britain’s biggest bank announcing profits in the double-figure billions whilst the cost of living continues to rise for millions across the country is nothing short of scandalous.

“It is especially outrageous that the government is considering worsening household wellbeing by cutting public spending at the same time as transferring tens of billions a year to commercial banks as a side-effect of higher interest rates.

“If the government is still looking for the broadest shoulders to bear tax rises, here they are. Instead of cutting vital services, Labour should strengthen the public finances by reducing payouts to banks or taxing back windfall profits made at the public's expense.

On inflation:

Hannah Dewhirst, Head of Campaigns at Positive Money, said:

“The Bank of England said itself that any rises in inflation this year would be driven by higher international fossil fuel prices and shouldn’t be lasting, so the last thing we should see is rate cuts slowing or wage rises being blamed off the back of this data.

“It’s important that economic policymakers adapt to burgeoning global sources of inflation, such as crop shortages caused by climate change. 

“We need the government to step up here, by sharing responsibility for tackling inflation with the Bank of England, rather than relying on the blunt instrument of interest rates for the job.”

Notes

On HSBC

• HSBC’s full profit announcement can be found here: https://www.hsbc.com/investors/results-and-announcements 

• New figures from the Bank of England show up to £150bn could be paid out from the Government by 2030 to cover losses from quantitative easing, much of which will be paid to banks in the form of interest on their risk-free reserves . This amounts to roughly £30 billion a year in transfers from the Treasury to the Bank of England over the next five years, according to the Bank’s latest projections: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/asset-purchase-facility/2024/2024-q4 

• Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley, asked the Treasury about this massive transfer last week: https://x.com/PositiveMoneyUK/status/1890340273739161767 

• Last year, Positive Money predicted that a windfall tax on the profits of Britain's biggest banks could bring in nearly £15bn for public spending: https://positivemoney.org/press-release/windfall-tax-on-bank-profits-could-raise-ps15bn-in-2024/ 

On inflation

• The ONS inflation figures can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/consumerpriceinflationukjanuary2025 

• The Bank of England said increased inflation this year shouldn’t be lasting and would be driven by higher wholesale energy prices: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/06/bank-of-england-lowers-uk-interest-rates

About Positive Money:

Positive Money is an international research and campaign organisation working to redesign our economic system for social justice and a liveable planet. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of supporters. Find out more: www.positivemoney.org