HSBC profits jump to £15.4bn

Europe’s largest bank HSBC has reported a 15.9% rise in pre-tax profit for 2018 however, the bank fell short of expectations.

The bank reported a profit before tax of £15.4bn for 2018 compared to £13.3bn for 2017, analysts estimate HSBC fell below £16.5bn.

Group chief executive John Flint said, “These are good results that demonstrate progress against the plan that I outlined in June 2018.

“Profits and revenue were both up despite a challenging fourth quarter, and our return on tangible equity is significantly higher than in 2017.

“This is an encouraging first step towards meeting our return on tangible equity target of more than 11% by 2020.”