HSBC said today that net profits more than doubled to $6.76 billion (€5.17 billion) in the first half of 2010 as the global banking giant slashed its bad debt provisions.
The profit after tax figure for the six months to June 30 compared with net earnings of $3.34 billion for the first half of 2009, the British group said.
'As we focus on building a high quality asset base for the future, it is encouraging that loan impairment charges now stand at their lowest levels since the start of the financial crisis,' HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan said.
'They almost halved overall, reducing by $6.8 billion to $7.5 billion year-on-year. This reflects the benefit of more stable economic conditions for many of our customers and follows our actions, begun before the crisis, to reduce exposure to unsecured lending outside our key relationships, to exit unprofitable business lines and to tighten underwriting standards for new business,' the boss of Europe's biggest bank added.
HSBC also revealed that pre-tax profits more than doubled to $11.1 billion in the first half, comfortably beating analyst expectations of earnings totalling $9.3 billion.
'Despite increasing economic uncertainty towards the end of the period, we saw appetite for credit grow steadily, especially among our business customers,' Geoghegan said.
'We grew loans and advances to customers in all regions and by 4% overall, compared with the end of 2009. Geographically, the strongest growth was in Asia, where we grew lending by 15%'.
HSBC, founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, sees Asia as the group's most important region strategically. Earlier this year Geoghegan relocated to Hong Kong from London, although the group remains headquartered in the British capital.
The bank said that across Asia, pre-tax profits increased by 20% to $5.6 billion in the first half.
HSBC said it would pay an interim dividend of 16 cents per share.
HSBC is the first of the major UK banks to report half-year figures, followed by nationalised Northern Rock tomorrow, Lloyds Banking Group on Wednesday, Barclays on Thursday and Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday.
HSBC shares closed 3.3% higher at 677.37 pence in London this evening.
