Britain's HSBC bank announced half-year pre-tax profits of close to 10 billion U.S. dollars Monday, setting what was claimed to be a European record. First-half profits rose 53 per cent to 5.14 billion pounds (9.4 billion dollars), exceeding market expectations, the bank said. In continental Europe, where HSBC generates around a third of its earnings, profits before exceptional items stood at 1.68 billion pounds. Its U.S. consumer finance arm, Household International, contributed 1.9 billion dollars. Chairman John Bond described the figures as a "solid performance". "Although trading conditions in our global markets business in the second quarter were less buoyant than in the first, there are no obvious signs of significant deterioration," he added. HSBC shares rose 28 pence to 835.5 pence on the news. Interest rate rises in Britain during the first half appeared not to have dampened consumer confidence, the bank said in reference to two successive hikes in interest rates. The bank is in talks to buy 20 per cent of Bank of Communications in China and said it had reached agreement in principle on the terms of the investment. HSBC has operations in Britain, continental Europe, Asia and the Americas. For 2003, HSBC announced a record annual pre-tax profit of 12.8 billion dollars, the highest ever recorded by a British-based bank.
