Banking group HSBC is joining its peers in offering monetary support to its staff to help them deal with soaring inflation.
According to a memo seen by Bloomberg, the bank will offer a one-off payment of £1,500 to some of its employees.
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Some 17,000 lower-paid employees who make up around half of HSBC’s UK operations will be eligible for the payment, which will be added to their August paycheck.
Welcoming the move, Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “The union will continue to campaign to ensure all staff receive a fully consolidated pay increase to ensure pay rates keep up with living costs.”
The cost-of-living payment comes as the lender reported a pre-tax profit of $5bn in the second quarter of 2022 and pushes against Ping An’s bid to split its Western and Asian operations.
The bank’s reported revenue increased by 2% to $12.8bn, which was influenced by interest rate hikes.
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By GlobalDataHSBC Group CEO Noel Quinn said: “We are confident of achieving a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from 2023 onwards, which would represent our best returns in a decade.
“We will aim to restore the dividend to pre-Covid-19 levels as soon as possible. We also intend to revert to quarterly dividends in 2023.”
Other major retail banks including NatWest, Barclays, Santander UK Lloyd’s Banking Group, TSB and Virgin Money have announced similar measures.
The development unfolds as the Bank of England considers increasing the pace of interest rate hikes to curb inflationary forces.
Notably, the BoE has warned against pay hikes, which could result in an earnings-price spiral prolonging already high inflation.
