HSBC Plans More Job Cuts in Effort to Save Up to $3 Billion

A branch of HSBC in London. Over the next three years, the bank plans to focus on commercial banking in Asia and Latin America. Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated PressA branch of HSBC in London. Over the next three years, the bank plans to focus on commercial banking in Asia and Latin America.

LONDON — After two years of far-reaching cost cuts and asset sales, HSBC said on Wednesday that it planned to find an additional $2 billion to $3 billion in savings by 2016 that would include the elimination of as many as 14,000 jobs.

In a meeting with investors on HSBC’s strategy, the management team said it aimed to increase dividends and was considering share buybacks. A buyback would be a first among Europe’s largest financial institutions, which until now have focused mainly on increasing capital reserves to comply with stricter regulation.

Banks worldwide have focused on reducing costs to improve profitability as the global economic recovery remains weak. HSBC admitted that increasing revenue in the current economic environment was a challenge. It forced the bank to abandon a target to bring its costs down to 48 percent to 52 percent of income. It is now aiming for a cost-income ratio of about 55 percent by 2016.

“Given that revenues are quite dependent on the macro economic environment, and so are not in their control as much as costs, we think it is important for the cost structure to be as efficient as possible to allow them to deliver solid earnings,” Priyanka Agnihotri, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said.

Stuart T. Gulliver, the chief executive, had warned previously that the difficult economic environment in Europe and slower-than-expected growth in China had hurt the bank’s income.

On Wednesday, Mr. Gulliver told investors the bank would “continue to exert tight cost discipline while streamlining processes and procedures.”

“Taken together,” he added, “we are confident that these measures will deliver consistent and superior financial results and move us closer to achieving our ambition of being the world’s leading international bank.”

Shares in HSBC rose 0.9 percent in London on Wednesday. The shares have gained 44 percent over the last year, compared with a 75 percent increase for Barclays and a 21 percent rise for Standard Chartered, another London-based bank that like HSBC generates more than half of its earnings in Asia.

HSBC said it expected to achieve additional savings by simplifying some of its internal processes and aligning internal systems. The total number of jobs could fall to as low as 240,000 by 2016 from 254,000 once all planned business sales are completed in the coming months. It was sticking to its target for return on equity, a measure of profitability, of 12 percent to 15 percent through 2016.

HSBC has sold or exited 52 businesses since 2011 and reduced costs by $4 billion. In recent months, it sold its unit in Panama to Bancolombia for $2.1 billion and its stake in the Chinese insurer Ping An for $9.4 billion. Last month, HSBC said it would eliminate about 1,150 jobs at branches in Britain, adding to the reduction of 30,000 positions announced two years ago.

Over the next three years, HSBC plans to focus on commercial banking in Asia and Latin America, relying on the bank’s Hong Kong roots. It also aims to gain market share in wealth management in developing markets, it said.

HSBC said last week that its first-quarter profit rose almost 50 percent, to $8.43 billion, compared with results in the period a year earlier, outpacing analysts’ expectations.