For the year ended 31 December 2011, the bank’s net operating income was 11% higher at 60.2bn, driven by a 12% gain in revenues in Asia.
HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver said the bank gained traction in the first year itself, which is part of its three-year reshape strategy designed to simplify structure and improve the management and control of the group, thereby improving returns and positioning HSBC for growth.
"The results were hurt by continuing problems in the US, where the bank reported an underlying loss of $2.4bn last year, up from the previous year’s comparable loss of $2.2bn," Gulliver said.
China, India, Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina were the high yielding revenue resources for the bank, which also alleviated the impact of euro zone crisis.
Revenue was up 12% in Asia, Latin America and MENA, which now account for 49% of Group revenue, said the bank.
The bank had disposed/closed 16 businesses in 2011, with an additional three to date, to rationalize its operations.
HSBC’s commercial banking division registered a 31% growth in pretax profit of $7.9bn in 2011, while the retail banking and wealth management profits grew to 11% to $4.3bn although, its global banking and markets division profits slipped 24% to $7bn.
As at 31 December 2011, the Group’s total assets were $2,556bn, an increase of $101bn, or 4%, compared to the same period a year ago.
