HONG KONG: Global banking giant HSBC announced Monday its results for 2015 which fell below analysts’ expectations after what it called “seismic shifts” in the world economy.
The bank said net profit dropped 1.2 percent to $13.52 billion from the previous year.
Group chairman Douglas Flint described the performance as “broadly satisfactory” in a statement, although the bank’s pre-tax profit of $18.9 billion missed analysts’ forecast of $21.8 billion.
HSBC also posted a fourth quarter pre-tax loss of $858 million, compared with the $1.95 billion profit forecast by the average of five analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
It comes after a turbulent year which saw a market rout in China and commodity prices plunge as well as tightening credit due to a US rates hike.
Last year HSBC announced a radical overhaul as it sought to boost profits and move past scandals that have scarred the British lender, including the rigging of foreign exchange markets.
The restructuring included the axing of 50,000 jobs globally.
