By Clarence Leong
HSBC's profit more than doubled in the first half, as the London-based banking giant continued to benefit from higher interest rates.
Asia-focused bank said Tuesday that profit rose to $16.97 billion in the first six months of the year, compared with $7.80 billion in the year-earlier period. This follows HSBC's record-smashing first quarter, when profit hit $10.33 billion.
Net interest income hit $18.26 billion, pushing revenue 50% higher to $36.9 billion.
In the second quarter, HSBC said revenue rose by $4.5 billion to $16.7 billion, driven by growth across its global businesses, reflecting higher interest rates.
HSBC said it will pay a dividend of $0.10 a share, in addition to the $0.10 dividend in the previous quarter, which was the bank's first dividend since 2019.
The lender also said it will buy back up to $2.0 billion of shares on top of the $2.0 billion share buyback announced in the first-quarter results.
Chief Executive Noel Quinn said in a statement that "substantial further distribution capacity" is anticipated in later periods.
HSBC raised its 2023 guidance for net interest income to above $35 billion, citing current market consensus for global central bank rates.
Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-01-23 0042ET