HSBC 2010 net profit more than doubles to US$13.16b
Banking giant HSBC said on Monday that its net profit more than doubled to US$13.16 billion (9.56 billion euros) last year as bad debts plunged to the lowest level since 2006.
HSBC said in a results statement that pre-tax profits soared by nearly 170 per cent to US$19 billion in 2010, while loan impairments and other credit risk provisions nosedived to US$14.04 billion from US$26.49 billion.
“Underlying financial performance continued to improve in 2010,” HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said in the results statement. “All regions and customer groups were profitable, as Personal Financial Services and North America returned to profit,” he said.