HSBC underlying pre-tax profits fall 18% to £3.7bn

The banking giant reported an 18% fall in underlying pre-tax profits to $5.43 billion (£3.7bn) for the first quarter.

On a bottom-line basis, profits fell 14% to $6.11bn (£4.2bn).

But the bank said it was a “resilient” performance in difficult market conditions, with the entire investment banking sector suffering after stock markets tumbled at the start of 2016 amid an oil price rout.

Shares in HSBC rose in Hong Kong trading as the profits fall was not as bad as most analysts had expected.

Group chief executive Stuart Gulliver said: “Market uncertainty led to extreme levels of volatility in January and February, which affected our ability to generate revenue in our markets and wealth management businesses.

“However, our diversified, universal-banking business model helped to cushion the impact through growth in other parts of the bank.”

The stock market woes left HSBC nursing a 28% plunge in underlying profits in its global banking and markets division, to $2bn (£1.4bn) after revenues dropped by 12%.