| HSBC
Bank revealed profits for the first time in its third quarter
update and for the first nine months of the year were better
than expected and bad debts had fallen to their lowest level
in 12 months. The strong performance was driven by the bank,
which had maintained its record performance for the year to
date. Analysts said the most promising news was that provisions
in the troubled US consumer Household finance division had declined.
HSBC is
winding down Household's sub-prime mortgage book and yesterday
revealed it is selling the car finance unit along with $1bn
of performing loans to Santander for $904m. The deal includes
HSBC's loan-servicing platform, which Santander will use to
manage the loans it has bought as well as HSBC's remaining
$5.6bn of car loans.
HSBC is
now concentrating solely on credit cards in US consumer finance
and as a result of improved economic conditions, they plan
to resume marketing spend to grow new card originations in
certain segments. The division made a $1.13bn third quarter
loss, against $271m profit last year.
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