HSBC, which is due to report earnings on Monday, may say third-quarter pretax profit rose 79 per cent as income from its investment banking unit rebounded. Profit, excluding acquisitions and disposals and accounting losses from revaluing the bank's own debt, probably rose to US$5.3 billion year on year, the median estimate of analysts in a survey showed. Bloomberg
Royal Bank of Scotland swung to a third-quarter loss after setting aside £400 million (HK$4.99 billion) more to compensate clients wrongly sold loan insurance. The net loss was £1.38 billion, compared with a £1.23 billion profit in the year-earlier period. RBS expects to start talks with investigators into the Libor rate-fixing scandal on a settlement soon, which is likely to result in financial penalties, it said. Bloomberg
Japan Airlines raised its full-year profit forecast to US$1.74 billion as the carrier, which only exited bankruptcy last year, released its first results since relisting on Tokyo's stock market. But it warned that a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing that led to thousands of cancelled flights has weighed on revenue as it trimmed its sales target. AFP
