Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings said its first-half profit fell 28%, in line with analysts' forecasts, as a $14 billion hit on bad debts on US home loans and asset writedowns countered strong Asian growth.
HSBC said pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of June were $10.2 billion, down from $14.2 billion a year before.
The bank said the outlook for economies was 'highly challenging' after deteriorating progressively in the first half. It predicted growth in emerging markets would hold up 'reasonably well, albeit with less momentum than in the recent past'.
'Ultimately the real economy will recover from this crisis, although it may get worse before it gets better,' HSBC Chairman Stephen Green said.
The bank's impairment charge was $10.1 billion for the six months, up 58% from a year ago, mainly due to losses from its book of US mortgages. Its investment bank also wrote down $3.9 billion on its exposure to credit trading, monolines and leverage acquisition financing loans.
