Breaking | Hang Seng Bank net profit up 82 per cent on sale of stake in mainland China lender

Hang Seng Bank’s chief executive warned on Monday of a challenging operating environment this year as it reported an 82 per cent rise in net profit for last year and paid out a record high dividend to shareholders.

The Hong Kong-headquartered bank said its net profit rose 82 per cent to HK$27.49 billion last year mainly due to one-off gains of HK$10.64 billion from the disposal of its 11 per cent investment in Shanghai-listed Industrial Bank last year. Hang Seng retains a 0.88 per cent stake in the mainland lender.

The result was in line with market expectations ranging from HK$26.30 billion to HK$28.86 billion, and follows a net profit of HK$15.13 billion in 2014. Excluding the one-off gain, profit was up 4 per cent.

The lender will pay a special dividend of HK$3 per share as well as a final dividend of HK$2.40, bringing the full-year dividend to HK$8.70, the lender’s highest on record, following a full-year dividend of HK$5.60 in 2014.

Major shareholder HSBC, which owns 62 per cent of the bank, will be the biggest winner, receiving HK$10.29 billion of the total HK$16.63 billion dividend payout for last year.

Vice-chairman and chief executive Rose Lee Wai-mun said she expected the operating environment this year to be worse than last year.