Banking giant HSBC reports 14% drop in profits

PanARMENIAN.Net - Banking giant HSBC has reported a 14% drop in profits for the first quarter following "extreme levels of volatility" in financial markets at the start of the year, BBC News reports.

Profit before tax came in at $6.1bn for the three months to March, down from $7.1bn a year ago. However, analysts had expected a far steeper fall in profits.

HSBC chief executive 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 $5.4bn.

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

Gulliver said the bank was confident of hitting its $5bn cost-cutting target by the end of 2017.

Independent banking analyst Frances Coppola said it was "likely there will be more job cuts" at HSBC following the fall in profits.

But she said the results "could have been worse" after financial markets were highly volatile in January and February.