British Bank HSBC has reported a 53% decline in profit attributable to ordinary shareholders to $6bn in 2019, materially impacted by a goodwill impairment of $7.3bn.
The goodwill impairment included $4bn related to global banking and markets and $2.5bn in commercial banking in Europe.
HSBC unveiled plans to slash 35,000 jobs and scale back its operations in the US and Europe.
The diluted earnings per share for last year was $0.3, falling from $0.63 per share in 2018.
HSBC’s adjusted revenue in 2019 was $55.4bn, an increase of 5.9%, compared to $52.33bn in 2018. Its adjusted profit before tax rose by 5% to $22.21bn,from $21.18bn for 2018.
The reported profit before tax for last year stood at $13.34bn, registering a 33% drop, When compared to $19.89bn in 2018.
The reported profit after tax for the bank decreased 56% to $8.7bn, from $15.02bn in 2018. The bank’s reported operating expenses for last year were $42.34bn.
Region-wise, losses before tax in Europe widened from $815m in 2018 to $4.65bn in 2019, increasing by 34.9%.
Profit before tax in Asia surged 138.4% to $18.46bn for last year from $17.8bn in 2018.
Middle East and North Africa had also seen an increase in profit before tax from $1.5bn in 2018 to $2.3bn for last year.
In North America and Latin America, the profit before tax had slightly decreased by 5.7% and 3%, respectively.
HSBC Group chairman Mark Tucker said: “At the time of our interim results, I said that the external environment was becoming increasingly complex and challenging. As our 2019 results demonstrate, this has proven to be the case.
“An impairment of historical goodwill caused our reported profit before tax to fall by 33%, but the strength and resilience of our business model delivered an adjusted profit before tax of $22.2bn, up 5%.
“Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking and Global Private Banking performed well, while our leading transaction banking franchise again demonstrated the effectiveness of our global network. This, alongside the Group’s capital strength, has given the Board the confidence to approve an unchanged dividend of $0.51 for 2019.”
