BERN: Earnings after tax climbed to $5.26 billion in the three months to the end of March, compared with $5.21 billion a year earlier, the Asia-focused bank reported in a results statement.
Pretax profits advanced 4.4 percent to $7.1 billion in the same period. That sent HSBC’s share price racing higher in morning trading because it easily beat market expectations of $5.8 billion. “Our business recovered well in the first quarter following a difficult fourth quarter,” said chief executive Stuart Gulliver in the statement.
HSBC has faced a storm over claims that it helped clients from around the world dodge taxes on accounts containing €180 billion ($204 billion) between November 2006 and March 2007, in cases that are being investigated in several countries.
