Lucros do HSBC caíram 70%

Para além do anúncio do prejuízo, o banco também anunciou o encerramento de algumas operações nos EUA. A Bolsa de Hong Kong suspendeu temporariamente as negociações das acções do banco para evitar surtos de pânico.

HSBC profit down 70%, will close some U.S. operations
By Simon Kennedy
Last update: 2:26 a.m. EST March 2, 2009
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- HSBC said Monday that its 2008 net profit fell 70% to $5.73 billion as it also announced plans to largely shut down its HFC and Beneficial consumer finance operations in the U.S. The group said it took a $10.6 billion goodwill impairment on its North American personal financial services operations and has come to the conclusion that models of direct personal lending that depend on wholesale markets for funding are no longer viable. Excluding the write-down, HSBC said pretax profit fell 18% to $19.9 billion and its total dividend for the year will fall 29% to 64 cents. Analysts had, on average, been expecting a pretax profit of $20.5 billion. The group is planning a 12.5 billion pound ($17.7 billion) rights issue and said the outlook for 2009 remains difficult, although its performance in January was ahead of expectations, especially in its global banking and markets division.

Fonte: HSBC profit down 70%, will close some U.S. operations