VS Series
Barclays Bank v HSBC Bank
Two of the UK's biggest banks, side by side on the books
Barclays Bank leads on 5 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Barclays Bank is the biggest by turnover at £40,368m, against £23,379m at HSBC Bank. Barclays Bank keeps more of every £100 it takes, £14.72 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: Barclays Bank to Dec 2025 · HSBC Bank to Dec 2025
Who they are
Barclays Bank
Barclays Bank PLC · 01026167Barclays Bank PLC is the part of the Barclays group that provides corporate and investment banking, credit cards and international banking services.In brief: corporate and investment banking · credit cards and Barclaycard · international banking · owned by Barclays PLCFull profile →HSBC Bank
HSBC Bank PLC · 00014259HSBC Bank plc is HSBC's non-ring-fenced bank in the UK, serving large companies, institutions and governments rather than high-street customers, whose accounts sit with the separate HSBC UK Bank.In brief: corporate and investment bank · non-ring-fenced · part of HSBC groupFull profile →The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barclays BankBarclays Bank PLC | £40,368m | -2.2% | £5,943m | 14.7% | n/d | n/d | n/d | £62,313m | £333,063m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 2 | HSBC BankHSBC Bank PLC | £23,379m | -14.6% | -£119m | -0.5% | 10,210 | £194,000 | £2.3m | £25,801m | £101,443m | Dec 2025 | Group |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Barclays Bank
£40,368m
Most pre-tax profit
Barclays Bank
£5,943m
Highest profit margin
Barclays Bank
14.7%
Fastest-growing turnover
Barclays Bank
-2.2%
Biggest employer
HSBC Bank
10,210 staff
Highest pay per head
HSBC Bank
£194,000
Most turnover per head
HSBC Bank
£2.3m
Largest net assets
Barclays Bank
£62,313m
Most cash
Barclays Bank
£333,063m
The Takeaway
- Barclays Bank converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £14.72 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £0.51 at HSBC Bank.
- Barclays Bank is the largest on the top line, £40,368m of turnover, 1.7x HSBC Bank's £23,379m.
- Barclays Bank is growing fastest, turnover -2.2% on its own prior year. Barclays Bank and HSBC Bank went backwards.
- HSBC Bank is the biggest employer with 10,210 people; HSBC Bank pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £194,000.
- Barclays Bank has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £62,313m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Barclays Bank keeps the most: £14.72 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. HSBC Bank does worst, losing £0.51.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Barclays Bank (£40,368m), HSBC Bank (£23,379m).
By headcount, HSBC Bank leads with 10,210 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Barclays Bank grew fastest, turnover -2.2% on its own prior year, ahead of HSBC Bank (-14.6%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
HSBC Bank employs the most, 10,210 people.
HSBC Bank has the highest average staff cost, about £194,000 a head.
HSBC Bank brings in the most turnover per employee, about £2.3m. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Barclays Plc
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band. 69 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Barclays Bank →
HSBC Bank PLC · 00014259Held by Hsbc Holdings Plc
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band. 34 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns HSBC Bank →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Barclays Bank | HSBC Bank |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | BARCLAYS BANK PLC | HSBC BANK PLC |
| Company number | 01026167 | 00014259 |
| Incorporated | 1971 | 1880 |
| Accounts filed | 2 June 2026 | 18 May 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £41,287m | £27,385m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £4,747m | £2,068m |
| Staff costs | £5,585m | £1,983m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 13.8% | 8.5% |
| Employees, prior year | 23,400 | 11,456 |
| Dividends paid | £2,602m | £1,951m |
| Charges outstanding | 69 | 34 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Barclays Bank v HSBC Bank: common questions
Who is the biggest of Barclays Bank or HSBC Bank?
Barclays Bank, with turnover of £40,368m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Barclays Bank: £5,943m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
HSBC Bank, with 10,210 employees in its latest accounts.
Barclays Bank or HSBC Bank: which is bigger?
Barclays Bank, with turnover of £40,368m against £23,379m at HSBC Bank on their latest filings. On margin, Barclays Bank keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.