HSBC Reports Sharp Drop in Profit in Q1 2016

HSBC has posted a 14% drop in profits for Q1 of 2016 following “extreme levels of volatility” in financial markets at the start of the year.

The banking giant’s profit before tax came in at $6.1 billion for Q1, down from $7.1 billion a year ago.

However, analysts had expected a far steeper fall in profits.

HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver said the bank had been “resilient in tough market conditions”.

Adjusted pre-tax profits, including currency effects and one-off items, fell 18% to $5.4 billion.

HSBC cut almost a thousand jobs worldwide in Q1, leaving it with 254,212 full-time staff across 71 countries and territories.

Stuart Gulliver said HSBC was confident of hitting its $5 billion cost-cutting target by the end of 2017.

HSBC’s adjusted revenue for Q1 amounted to $13.9 billion, a 4% drop from the same time last year.

The bank also said the development of its Asian business was gaining momentum, “despite a challenging environment with key increases in market share in debt capital markets, China M&A and syndicated lending”.

Ahead of the results, analysts had warned HSBC might signal an end to its highly-valued progressive dividend, which delivers ever-increasing payouts.

However, HSBC maintained the progressive target and left its dividend unchanged from the same period last year at $0.10.

HSBC also announced that the $5.2 billion sale of its Brazil unit to banking giant Banco Bradesco received preliminary approval from competition regulators.