HSBC to shed 30,000 jobs as 195 US branches shut down

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me ~ HSBC employee 

HSBC expected to shed 30,000 jobs in cost-cutting drive

Chief executive braced for questions about how many roles being shed as sale of 195 US branches is announced

• Jill Treanor
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 July 2011 22.35 BST
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At least 30,000 jobs are expected to be axed at HSBC over three years as the UK's largest bank cuts costs in an effort to bolster returns to shareholders.

As he presents the first-half figures on Monday, HSBC's chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, is braced for questions about how many roles will be shed from the bank's 300,000-strong global workforce.

Even before the results were published, he tried to demonstrate that he was pressing ahead with his strategic goals announced in May by unveiling the sale on Sunday of 195 US branches, largely in upstate New York, to enable the bank to focus on commercial and retail banking.

The $1bn sale to First Niagara Bank, which has been growing through acquisitions of rivals, leaves HSBC with 265 branches in the US, mostly in New York.

HSBC has had a difficult history since buying Household International in 2002 and finds it difficult to compete with the established players. Even so, Gulliver has stressed that a presence in the US is "critical" and the branches being sold date back to its acquisition of Marine Midland in the 1980s.

At the helm since the start of the year after promotion from running the investment banking arm, Gulliver has also set out his ambition to shave $3.5bn (£2.1bn) off operating costs over three years and analysts believe this could equate to about 10% of the workforce.

Gulliver has admitted that his cost cutting plans will "inevitably" lead to job losses but has not been specific. Analysts will press him for clarity at the results presentation.

HSBC will be the first of the banks with stock market listings in London to report first-half figures, which are expected to show the impact of the slowdown in trading activity caused by the US debt crisis and the problems in the eurozone.

The bank is forecast to show profits in the first six months of the year are flat at about $11bn.

Barclays' investment banking arm, the power house of the bank, is expected to show a fall in revenue on Monday. Standard Chartered and bailed-out Lloyds Banking Groupand Royal Bank of Scotland also publish their first-half figures this week. Jobs are already being shed by Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland while the new chief executive of Lloyds, António Horta-Osório, warned last month that 15,000 roles would need to go over three years. The bank is expected to report a statutory loss of at least £3bn from provision for mis-sold payment protection insurance, but on its preferred measure of profitability, stripping out the cost of integrating HBOS, analysts expect profits of about £1bn.

While more than 40,000 jobs have been lost in the UK since HBOS was rescued amid the banking crisis in 2008, the staff cuts at HSBC are globally spread.