Profit before tax rose to $1.28 billion in the year ended December 2022 from $1.11 billion a year ago. CEO Hitendra Dave said the bank will continue to expand its balance sheet in the country and look for new customers as more and more companies as well as individuals look abroad for growth.
Profit from personal banking and wealth management, the smallest business in terms of revenue in India doubled to $45 million from $20 million and was supported by a 15% increase in profit from the commercial banking division which serves small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to $304 million from $265 million a year ago.
The global banking & markets division (GBM) the largest revenue for the bank which services large corporations and also includes treasury income reported a strong 5% increase in profit to $622 million from $593 million a year ago. The bank’s corporate centre division, which provides support services to the bank globally reported a 32% rise in profit before tax to $306 million from $232 million a year ago.
“Even in underlying rupee terms, our profit has increased 22%. Our market share in forex, trade and FDI is now in double digits. We continue to look at balance sheet expansion and customer acquisitions in India and are well placed to take advantage of the external opportunities both for individuals who may look at studying abroad as well as companies looking or growth,” Dave said.
Dave said the bank is seeing opportunities in retail banking for IT company staff and for commercial banking clients wanting to expand their business abroad. The bank’s expected credit loss (ECL) provisions on personal banking also fell to $22 million in 2022 from $40 million a year ago as risk for future credit losses were lower in 2022.
HSBC’s growth is in contrast to its peer Standard Chartered which reported a 16% fall in profit to $432 million on higher impairment costs even as income dipped and expenses remained elevated.India is the fourth largest contributor to HSBC’s profits behind Hong Kong, UK and China. It employs 39,000 people in the country, the largest employee base for it anywhere in the world.