HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) promoting Georges Elhedery, its current chief financial officer, to be its new CEO is unsurprising, analysts said.
Following the retirement announcement from Noel Quinn in the spring, the current boss will step down from 2 September.
Elhedery, who has worked in various senior leadership roles at the lender since joining in 2005, had been widely tipped as the front-runner to get the CEO role, said analysts at Shore Capital.
Such a move also "follows HSBC’s normal route of promoting from within when it comes to CEO appointments and, while this approach brings continuity, it does not bring the sort of fresh insight that an external appointment might", the analysts added.
Analysts at AJ Bell said the choice of Elhedery "should reassure investors" as he "is seen as a safe choice and a solid pair of hands who already knows the business inside and out".
They added that while "safe and boring is arguably what a bank needs, rather than a maverick visionary" and he takes the wheel of a business in good shape, "banking is a highly competitive industry and there is still a lot more to be done to make HSBC a stronger player on the battlefield".
Shore Capital retained its 'buy' recommendation on the shares, with a fair value of 920p, which the analysts noted implied 39% upside and means HSBC "now offers the most upside of the large UK banks we cover".
The next scheduled update from the bank will be the interim results scheduled for 31 July.