HSBC Q3 profit surges 28pc
HONG KONG/LONDON: HSBC Holdings Plc posted a higherthan-expected 28 per cent rise in third-quarter profit as a renewed push to rein in costs and market share gains in the Asian region paid off, sending its Hong Kong shares sharply higher yesterday.
Europe’s biggest bank by assets has in recent years reaped the benefits of a wide restructuring after the global financial crisis but rising costs have been a concern as chief executive officer John Flint stepped up investments.
Stubbornly high costs had in previous quarters weighed on HSBC’s profits, with analysts saying its share price growth will be capped until it can show revenues rising above costs, in a trend known as “positive jaws” in city parlance.
“We’re absolutely in line with our plans, so we still expect to get positive jaws for the full year,” said Flint.
“The real driver is that we have got control over cost base and we got some revenue momentum.”
In the September quarter, the bank’s reported pre-tax profit was US$5.9 billion (RM24.6 billion), up from US$4.6 billion in the same period a year earlier. The profit was higher than the US$5.6 billion average analysts’ estimates and the percentage growth was strongest in four quarters.
HSBC said its expenses in the third quarter fell 2.4 per cent from the preceding three months, reversing the trend of the last couple of quarters. Quarterly reported revenue grew 6.3 per cent from the year-ago period to US$13.8 billion.