HSBC beats expectations with €5bn quarter profits

HSBC beat expectations with an underlying first-quarter profit of $6.8bn (€5.18bn) as Europe’s biggest bank saw a rebound in investment banking, growth in Asia and a fall in US bad debts.

HSBC said yesterday it was making good progress with its strategic revamp, including cost savings, and had shed 14,000 jobs since last year as part of chief executive Stuart Gulliver’s drive to boost profitability.

He pointed to Hong Kong, the rest of the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America as showing the benefit, with revenues up 16%, 18% and 7% on the year respectively, and highlighted strong performances in commercial banking and investment banking, called Global Banking and Markets (GBM).