HSBC rakes in $1 bln pre-tax profit from India operations in 2019

British banking major HSBC's pre-tax profit from India grew 22 per cent to USD 1 billion last year, making it the fifth most profitable geography for the bank worldwide. The bank had reported a profit before tax of USD 825 million in 2018.

The bank, which reportedly announced a plan to cut 35,000 jobs worldwide on Tuesday, added 2,000 employees in the country in 2019, taking the total to 40,000 people, which is at par with its largest market of UK. HSBC's profit from India was driven by global banking and markets segment which grew 20 per cent to deliver a bottom line of USD 466 million, according to its annual report for 2019.

As per the report, retail banking, where HSBC has massively consolidated its physical presence, delivered a pre-tax profit of USD 48 million as against USD 20 million. Commercial banking profits grew to USD 181 million from USD 143 million in India last year. Pre-tax profits attributable to "corporate centre" were up at USD 311 million from USD 275 million, the report said.

The number of customer accounts in India grew to 14,935 at the end of 2019 as against 14,210 in the year-ago period. "Our businesses in Mexico, India, the ASEAN region and mainland China also performed well. The biggest areas of under performance were our businesses in the US and our European non-ring-fenced bank, both of which saw a reduction in revenue and profit before tax," the report said.

HSBC's overall tax payments in India increased to USD 398 million from the USD 384 million in the year-ago period.