DHAKA: Europe’s biggest bank has posted a 1.2% decline in net profit to $13.52bn for the 12 months to December compared to a year earlier, citing a slowdown in China, among other issues.

Pre-tax profit was up 1% compared to a year earlier to $18.87bn, the bank said, below market expectations.

The lender said 2015 had delivered a ‘difficult market environment’, reports the BBC.

However, group chairman Douglas Flint said the bank’s financial performance was ‘broadly satisfactory’.

‘2015 was marked by some seismic shifts in global economic conditions, most notably the continuation of a sharp decline in commodity and oil prices, in part attributable to growing concerns over China’s slowing economic growth,’ he said

HSBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell on the profit report and were down 0.5% in afternoon trade.

The lender’s group chief executive also noted the bank had seen a tough year in 2015, but that it was continuing to focus on delivering cost cutting measures announced in June last year.

BDST: 1240 HRS, FEB 22, 2016
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