Hong Kong banking giant HSBC said Friday that pre-tax profit dipped four percent to $4.76 billion in the first three months of the year owing to rising operating costs but added it would buy back $2 billion worth of stock. It also said revenue rose six percent to $13.7 billion in the period as it benefits from an improving global economy and rising interest rates. The upbeat January-March results follow a strong 2017, which was boosted by a recovery that saw it lay off tens of thousands of staff since 2015 as part of a wide-ranging overhaul.
Chief executive John Flint welcomed the results, saying: "Our global businesses performed well in the first quarter, maintaining momentum from the end of 2017. "We continue to benefit from interest rate rises and economic growth, particularly in Asia. Our primary focus is to grow the businesses safely, and we have increased investment to deliver that aim."
The London-based firm is enjoying a change in fortunes after a tough few years.
In January, it agreed to pay more than $100 million to US authorities after admitting to defrauding clients during multi-billion-dollar foreign exchange transactions. And in December, US authorities lifted the threat of prosecution against HSBC, five years after it admitted to widespread money laundering and sanctions violations.
In a landmark case, the bank agreed to pay $1.9 billion in fines in 2012, after admitting it knowingly moved hundreds of millions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and illegally served clients in Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan and Cuba in violation of US sanctions. Under the terms of the settlement, federal prosecutors agreed to drop all charges after five years if the bank paid the fine, took remedial action and avoided committing new violations.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.