(Correcting the number of months that have passed since plans referred to in third paragraph.)
LONDON (Alliance News) - HSBC Holdings PLC on Monday said its pretax profit increased by 10% in the first half, and that it has agreed to sell its Brazilian operations for USD5.2 billion.
HSBC reported a USD13.63 billion pretax profit for the six months to the end of June, up from the USD12.34 billion reported for the first half of 2014. HSBC's interim dividend remained at USD0.20 per share.
The results come nearly two months after the global banking giant revealed plans to save between USD4.5 billion and USD5.0 billion per year by 2017, cut risk-weighted assets by a quarter and redeploy freed up capital to more profitable business, and sell its operations in loss-making Brazil and Turkey.
Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said that HSBC is focused on making "significant progress" on its strategy in the remainder of the year.
"Our performance in the first half of 2015 demonstrated the underlying strength of our business. Our diversified, universal model enabled the group to deliver increased profitability in spite of slow global growth," Gulliver said in a statement.
HSBC said it has agreed to sell its operations in Brazil to Banco Bradesco SA for USD5.2 billion in cash, with the precise amount depending on the net asset value of the business on completion of the deal, which is expected by the second quarter of 2016. HSBC will retain a corporate banking presence in the South American country to serve international clients.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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HSBC Holdings (HSBA)