HSBC profit jumps as vaccine rollout spurs recovery hopes
By Lawrence White
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC Holdings PLC beat quarterly profit forecasts and released $400 million it had set aside to cover bad loans caused by the pandemic, as rapid vaccine rollouts in the United States and Britain raise hopes for an economic recovery.
Europe s biggest bank by assets cautioned, however, that high levels of uncertainty meant it was keeping the bulk of the $3 billion it set aside a year ago to cover potential bad debts. We are still being relatively cautious, and we ve retained about 70% of the reserve build up we did last year, Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson told Reuters.
LONDON: HSBC Holdings PLC reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and released $400 million it had set aside to cover pandemic-induced bad loans, as successful vaccine rollouts in the United States and Britain prompted a brighter economic outlook.
HSBC cautioned, however, that uncertainty about the global recovery meant it was unlikely to sustain that level of reduction in the $3 billion bad debt provision it had set aside a year ago as the pandemic took hold. We are still being relatively cautious, and we ve retained about 70% of the reserve build up we did last year, Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson told Reuters. Some of that you would expect to unwind over the next year or so, but we don t know we are going to see a repeat of what we just saw, Stevenson said.
HSBC Holdings PLC reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and released $400 million it had set aside to cover pandemic-induced bad loans, as successful vaccine rollouts in the United States and Britain prompted a brighter economic outlook.
HSBC cautioned, however, that uncertainty about the global recovery meant it was unlikely to sustain that level of reduction in the $3 billion bad debt provision it had set aside a year ago as the pandemic took hold. We are still being relatively cautious, and we ve retained about 70% of the reserve build up we did last year, Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson told Reuters. Some of that you would expect to unwind over the next year or so, but we don t know we are going to see a repeat of what we just saw, Stevenson said.
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