A focus on its Asian businesses has helped FTSE 100 bank HSBC to more than quadruple profits in the three months to 30 September.
Profits for the quarter were £3.5bn, up from £640m in the same quarter last year.
Outgoing HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver, said returns were driven by a combination of the performance of its Asian businesses and cost cutting across the group.
HSBC has been selling off assets since 2015, and the profit numbers reported this morning take account of a loss of more than £1.2bn on the disposal of some of the group’s South American assets.
The core tier one capital ratio of the group is 14.1 per cent, which matters for income investors as capital of greater than 13 per cent can be distributed to shareholders.
Only 10 per cent of HSBC’s profits come from the UK, but the company did report loan growth for this market.
Lending in Europe increased by $1.2bn (£900m), notably in the UK, as higher balances in retail banking and wealth management were driven by UK mortgage growth of $2.8bn (£2.1bn).
The company also reported that in the nine months to the end of September it had spent £12m on costs associated with the UK's exit from the European Union.
HSBC shares are down 0.4 per cent in the immediate aftermath of these results, at £7.45.
The company is currently in the midst of an initiative to buy back its own shares.
david.thorpe@ft.com
