Profit boost for HSBC as first quarter figures jump by 79%

A UK bank has reported a 79 per cent increase in profits for the first quarter of this year as pandemic fears lessen.

HSBC Holdings, a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in London, announced today (27 April) that its profit before tax rose by 79 per cent to $5.8bn.

The bank said that while all of its regions were profitable, its UK branch “notably” reported pre-tax profits of more than $1bn.

Reported revenue decreased by 5 per cent, driven by the impact of interest rate reductions in HSBC’s businesses.

HSBC also announced that it has released $4m that it had set aside to cover bad loans brought about by the pandemic.

Noel Quinn, group chief executive of HSBC Holdings, said: “We had a good start to the year in support of our customers, while achieving materially enhanced returns for our shareholders.

“I am pleased with our revenue and cost performance, but particularly with our significantly lower expected credit losses.

“Global Banking and Markets had a good quarter, and we saw solid business growth in strategic areas, including Asia Wealth and trade finance, and mortgages in Hong Kong and the UK. We also strengthened our lending pipelines in our retail and wholesale businesses.

“The execution of our growth and transformation plans is proceeding well. We made further progress in reducing both costs and risk-weighted assets, and launched new products and capabilities in areas of strength.

“The economic outlook has improved, although uncertainties remain. We carry good momentum into the second quarter, while maintaining conservative positions on capital, funding, liquidity and credit.”

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