HSBC Canada’s operating income and profit decline in Q2

HSBC Bank Canada’s profit decreased by 32% in the second quarter from the same period last year, while the bank’s operating income fell by 4.4%, the company reported on Monday.

HSBC’s profit before income tax expense fell from $247 million in Q2 2018 to $168 million in Q2 of this year, a release said. The bank’s operating income decreased from $570 million in the second quarter last year to $545 million in Q2 2019.

“Profit before tax decreased reflecting our continued investments in the business, increase in expected credit losses contrasted with recoveries last year, and lower revenues in Global Banking and Markets,” said Sandra Stuart, president and CEO of HSBC Bank Canada, in the press release.

Growth in core operating income for the retail banking, wealth management and commercial banking businesses helped to offset the declines, the release said.

Operating income in the retail banking and wealth management sector increased 4.9% from $184 million in Q2 2018 to $193 million in the same period this year. However, operating expenses also increased and profit before income tax expense for the sector fell from $19 million in Q2 2018 to $11 million last quarter.

The decrease in the bank’s total operating income was mainly due to the development of the ServCo group to manage shared services, the release said, which led to lower other operating income.

On Monday, HSBC announced that it’s global CEO John Flint was leaving after just 18 months. The bank said it was cutting 4,000 jobs to reduce costs and that it needed new leadership to deal with increasing economic uncertainty.

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