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| HSBC in new sub-prime writedown | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Europe's biggest bank HSBC has written off $3.2bn (£1.6bn) in the first three months of 2008 as a result of its exposure to the US sub-prime market. | Europe's biggest bank HSBC has written off $3.2bn (£1.6bn) in the first three months of 2008 as a result of its exposure to the US sub-prime market. |
| The write downs, which are lower than the total written off in the final quarter of 2007, are in line with what the bank had predicted. | The write downs, which are lower than the total written off in the final quarter of 2007, are in line with what the bank had predicted. |
| HSBC now stands behind Citibank, UBS and Merrill Lynch as the banks with the largest value of writedowns. | HSBC now stands behind Citibank, UBS and Merrill Lynch as the banks with the largest value of writedowns. |
| It also reported a further $2.6bn of writedowns in its global banking arm. | It also reported a further $2.6bn of writedowns in its global banking arm. |
| 'Encouraged' | 'Encouraged' |
| The bank said that profits in the US had fallen but that other markets remained strong. | The bank said that profits in the US had fallen but that other markets remained strong. |
| MAIN CREDIT LOSSES SO FAR Citigroup: $40.7bn UBS: $38bnMerrill Lynch: $31.7bnHSBC: $15.6bnBank of America: $14.9bnMorgan Stanley $12.6bn Royal Bank of Scotland: $12bn JP Morgan Chase: $9.7bn Washington Mutual: $8.3bn Deutsche Bank: $7.5bn Wachovia: $7.3bn Credit Agricole: $6.6bn Credit Suisse: $6.3bn Mizuho Financial $5.5bn Bear Stearns: $3.2bn Barclays: $3.2bn Source: Bloomberg and company reports Timeline: How the sub-prime crisis unfolded | MAIN CREDIT LOSSES SO FAR Citigroup: $40.7bn UBS: $38bnMerrill Lynch: $31.7bnHSBC: $15.6bnBank of America: $14.9bnMorgan Stanley $12.6bn Royal Bank of Scotland: $12bn JP Morgan Chase: $9.7bn Washington Mutual: $8.3bn Deutsche Bank: $7.5bn Wachovia: $7.3bn Credit Agricole: $6.6bn Credit Suisse: $6.3bn Mizuho Financial $5.5bn Bear Stearns: $3.2bn Barclays: $3.2bn Source: Bloomberg and company reports Timeline: How the sub-prime crisis unfolded |
| The latest writedown takes the amount of bad debt incurred by the bank in the US to £7.5bn over the past year. | |
| But growth in Asia helped counter the big hit taken on US home loans - meaning profits were still bigger than the same period a year earlier. | But growth in Asia helped counter the big hit taken on US home loans - meaning profits were still bigger than the same period a year earlier. |
| "I am encouraged by the way we have increased pre-tax profits in every one of the major countries in which we operate in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America," said group chief executive, Michael Geoghegan. | "I am encouraged by the way we have increased pre-tax profits in every one of the major countries in which we operate in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America," said group chief executive, Michael Geoghegan. |
| Private and commercial banking divisions saw record profits in the quarter, he added. | Private and commercial banking divisions saw record profits in the quarter, he added. |
| The comments, as well as the writedowns being no worse than expected, helped push HSBC shares up in morning trading. | The comments, as well as the writedowns being no worse than expected, helped push HSBC shares up in morning trading. |