HONG KONG: HSBC Holdings reported a 212 per cent increase in quarterly profit on Tuesday , as it benefited from rising interest rates around the world.
Europe's largest bank posted a pretax profit of US$12.9 billion for the first quarter ended March, versus US$4.2 billion a year earlier.HSBC's headline profit was boosted by a reversal of a US$2 billion impairment it took against the planned sale of its French business, reflecting the fact that the deal may no longer go through.
The bank said the planned US$10 billion sale of its Canadian business, originally slated to complete by the end of this year, will now only likely go through in the first quarter of 2024. That follows a warning the bank gave last month that its France disposal could be in jeopardy over regulatory capital concerns for the buyer.
The London-headquartered bank announced the first of a new cycle of buybacks along with the results of up to $2 billion.Source: Reuters/rj