HSBC’s ‘pivot to Asia’ boosts profits

HSBC headquarters is seen at the financial Central district in Hong Kong, China September 6, 2017.REUTERS/Bobby Yip

• Third quarter pre-tax profit up over 400% to $4.6 billion.
• HSBC boosted by expansion in Asia.

HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings posted a more than five-fold rise in its pretax profit for the third quarter, as the bank expanded its market share in its key business in Asia, and helped by a lower comparative base in the year-ago quarter.

The bank’s reported pretax profit was $4.6 billion in the September quarter, up from $843 million in the same period a year ago, HSBC said in a stock exchange filing. The profit was roughly in-line with analyst estimates of $4.7 billion.

The year-ago profit was significantly impacted by a one-off loss of $1.7 billion from the sale of its Brazilian unit, and adverse foreign currency movements.

HSBC has been able to grow its revenue again following a period of wider restructuring after the 2008 global financial crisis, that included scaling back its empire and shifting its focus eastwards.

HSBC earlier this month chose veteran John Flint as its next chief executive, with its newly arrived chairman promoting an insider to drive revenue growth. Flint will take over as CEO in February next year.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Lawrence White; Editing by Stephen Coates)