SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC Holdings reported a 27% fall in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as the Asia-focussed bank suffered from decreased revenues and slowing growth in Hong Kong.
Europe’s largest bank with a market value of $130 billion posted a pretax profit of $4.2 billion for the first quarter ended March, versus $5.78 billion a year earlier.
The results were better than the $3.72 billion average estimate of 16 analysts compiled by HSBC.
The London-headquartered bank said expected credit loss came in at $600 million compared with the year-ago quarter when it unlocked $400 million of reserves as the outlook improved.
“Increased ECL primarily reflected the direct and broader economic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war and inflationary pressures on the forward economic outlook,” it said.
About two-thirds of the bank’s reported pretax profit comes from Asia.
(Reporting by Anshuman and Lawrence White; Editing by Himani Sarkar)