HSBC reports 28% fall in profits

HSBC today revealed a 28% fall in first-half profits as the impact of US bad debts and credit crunch losses continued to weigh on the banking giant.

The company’s pre-tax profits of $10.25bn came as it wrote off a total of $10.5bn on its struggling US business and investments hit by the credit turmoil.

Chairman Stephen Green said the first half of 2008 saw “the most difficult financial markets for several decades”.

He added: “HSBC was not immune from the turmoil.”