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HSBC expected to post 1.5 per cent rise in full year profit on Tuesday

Growth driven by improving interest income, particularly in Hong Kong

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On Thursday, HSBC closed at HK$83.55 a share, an increase of 23.4 per cent in the previous 12 months. Photo: Reuters
HSBC, Hong Kong’s largest bank, will report a slight increase in its full-year profit on Tuesday, analysts said, as rising interest rates push its revenue higher, particularly in Hong Kong.
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A poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters expects the bank to post a pre-tax profit for 2017 of US$19.59 billion, up 1.5 per cent from 2016, after adjusting for one-off events.

Tuesday will also be the last day at work for HSBC’s group chief executive, Stuart Gulliver. Gulliver will be replaced by HSBC veteran John Flint, who has most recently been the banking group’s head of retail banking and wealth management.

“We expect Hong Kong retail net interest income to be a beneficiary of a higher Hibor in the fourth quarter of 2017, notwithstanding ongoing competitive pressures,” Jefferies analysts led by Joseph Dickerson wrote in a note to clients. Jefferies has a buy rating for HSBC.

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Hibor, the Hong Kong interbank offered rate, is a benchmark interest rate in the city. Higher rates mean that HSBC can earn more on deposits that it cannot lend, and also benefit from higher repayments on Hibor-linked mortgages.

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