British multinational investment bank HSBC announced a slight fall in reported revenue for the first half of 2021 (H1) despite rising profits, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The bank's 2021 interim results showed that its reported revenue fell by 4 percent compared with the same period last year to 25.6 billion dollars, primarily reflecting "2020 interest rate reductions and lower Markets and Securities Services (MSS) revenue relative to a strong 1H20 (the first half of 2020)".
Despite dropping revenue, the firm saw robust profits in the first six months of 2021, with reported profit after tax increasing by 5.3 billion dollars to 8.4 billion dollars and reported profit before tax mounting by 6.5 billion dollars to 10.8 billion dollars.
"Despite interest rate headwinds, there was continued strength in Asia and a material recovery in profitability in all other regions, reflecting a net release in ECL (expected credit losses) as the economic outlook improved," said the bank.
In February this year, the bank reported profit before tax plunged by a third in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bank said it expects to move to within its target dividend payout ratio range of 40 percent to 55 percent of reported earnings per ordinary share in 2021.