HSBC profit tumbles as China losses mount

Written by Selena Lee and Lawrence White

Hong Kong/London (Reuters)-HSBC Holdings reported a more clear decrease in profits on Wednesday, and was harmed by removing from exposure to a Chinese bank and Hong Kong real estate, while the bank pushed forward a global restructuring.

Its decline in 26 % in Pretax in the first half showed the challenge facing George Ilidiri, where the largest bank in Europe was exposed to losses in China, as it has increased its planning plans to grow in recent years after its shrinking in Western markets.

ELHEDERY, who unleashed a comprehensive restructuring in the bank after assuming responsibility last year, said at a profit conference that the bank started reviews of its retail banking banking in Australia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and will start reducing the retail business in Bangladesh in the second half of this year.

He said that the banking companies and institutional companies of the lender were not affected by these developments.

The bank recorded a profit of $ 15.8 billion for the first six months of this year, and the loss of intermediaries of $ 16.5 billion.

London’s HSBC shares decreased by 4.5 %, corresponding to previous losses in Hong Kong shares.

The loan shares increased by 36 % in the past year, as they benefited from higher returns on their lending and entered into their wealth, although this fails to increase 76 % during the same period in Standard Standard.

HSBC received another $ 2.1 billion from its share of the state -run telecommunications bank, after twice the $ 3 billion, which took it in February 2024 amid bad loans in China.

ELHEDEY CEO played down the low value on the bank’s BOOCOC share, saying it will not have any effect on its ability to pay stock profits.

“These are accountable holidays … they do not affect the expectations that we have in the Chinese economy, they are paper losses,” he said in the call.

The New Wrovedown included a $ 1.1 billion loss as a result of the collection of donations to the Chinese Bank earlier this year, which reduced the ownership of HSBC.

The real estate market in China, which was previously a major driver in the world’s second largest economy, was in a multi -year tail, despite repeated government attempts to revive the weak demand for consumers, leaving losses in local lenders’ loan books.

The bank said that the expected credit losses in HSBC have grown by $ 900 million compared to the first half of last year to $ 1.9 billion.

Citigroup analysts said that the slow real estate market in Hong Kong can continue to assess the quality of assets for Hong Kong banks.