HSBC warns on volatile markets and Brexit as its net profit plunges 90%
London — HSBC profits plunged last year on huge writedowns and restructuring charges, the banking group said on Tuesday. The London-headquartered bank with a focus on Asia said net profit tumbled to $1.29bn in 2016, down 90% on a year earlier. Profit before tax stood at $7.1bn, down 62% after HSBC slashed the value of its private banking activity in Europe $3.2bn because of a 1999 acquisition. The banking group took a charge of $1.8bn after a change in its debt value. HSBC was also hit by restructuring costs of $3.1bn. It announced in 2015 it was cutting 50,000 jobs and quitting noncore markets. "Investors’ reactions to HSBC’s full year results intensified as the day went on, Britain’s biggest bank seeing its losses expand following news of a 62% slide in annual profit," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group. The bank’s share price tumbled 6.7%, and it topped the loser’s board at midday on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index. HSBC had closed down 5.0% in Hong Kong. I...
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