HSBC reports narrow first-half profit decline, beats expectations

Core Viewpoint - HSBC is focusing on growing and investing in its international retail and wealth business to diversify revenue streams, as stated by outgoing CEO Noel Quinn [1] Financial Performance - HSBC reported a pretax profit of $21.56 billion for the first half of the year, slightly down from $21.66 billion in the same period last year, but above the broker estimates average of $20.5 billion [2][4] - The bank's performance was positively influenced by a high-interest rate environment, contributing to a good revenue performance in the first half of 2024 [4][5]