(9 March 2009 – Australia) HSBC has shown its strength in Australia with a 42 percent increase in profits to US$176 million (A$275 million) for the full year 2008.HSBC Australia increased its year-on-year profit before tax from US$124 million in 2007 by 42 percent to US$176 million in 2008.
The result is consistent with Asia Pacific results but in stark comparison to HSBC globally, which saw 2008 profits fall by 70 percent, with a net profit of US$5.73 billion (A$8.98 billion).
HSBC Australia saw a fall in profit in its personal division, negated by strong increases in profit in the commercial banking and global markets units.
In Personal Financial Services, profit was down by over 50 percent, to US$19 million from US$41 million in 2007.
HSBC said that HSBC Premier, the bank’s global banking and wealth management service, had grown its Australian customer base by over 76 percent in the last year.
Commercial Banking faired much better, with profit before tax up 84 percent to US$68 million from US$37 million in 2007.
Despite the tightening of credit markets, HSBC continued to increase business lending in Australia, with Commercial, international trade and other loans increasing from A$4,549 million in 2007 to A$4,875 million in 2008.
It was the Global Banking and Markets unit, however, that saw the biggest profit rise and the most significant contribution to overall profit. Profit before tax rose by 143 percent to US$102 million from US$42 million in 2007.
HSBC said that the strong results in Global Markets came from a continued ability to deliver strong revenue from foreign exchange trading, interest rates, and debt capital markets.