HSBC’s pre-tax Q1 profits, adjusted for one-offs and currency moves, rose 12%, beating consensus forecasts, reports the Financial Times. The results were helped by a strong performance in the bank’s Asian operations.
The better than expected results, which come on the heels of disappointing 2016 profits, led UBS analysts to predict a US$2 billion share buyback by the end of this year.
Finance director for HSBC tempered the expectations saying that the bank “will assess with our regulators our ability to do more buybacks as the year progresses.”