HSBC Q3 profits fall as $1.1bn legal charge weighs

(Sharecast News) - HSBC on Tuesday reported a fall in third-quarter profits as a $1.1bn legal charge weighed on the bottom line. Pre-tax profit for the three months to September fell 14% to $7.3bn. Net interest income for the quarter rose 15% year on year to $8.8bn, driven by a 30% jump in income from its wealth division to $2.68bn.

Operating expenses rose 24%, as it set aside provisions including $1.1bn after losing an appeal in a long-running lawsuit in Luxembourg related to Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Chief financial officer Pam Kaur said the figure could vary and that a settlement over the case could take years. "This is a complex case," the Guardian reported her as saying.

"This will take a period of time to go through. It could take months, it could take years, as you can imagine this case itself has taken a very long time to come through."

Kaur said the $1.1bn figure was "not some average number we have come up with. We have come up with the best judgment based upon advice from our accountants, our internal counsel, our external legal counsel. Of course, there could be some variation around that number."

The bank said it now expected full-year banking net interest income of $43bn, citing rising confidence in the near-term trajectory for policy rates in key markets such as the UK and Hong Kong.

It also guided for double-digit percentage average annual growth in fee and other income from its wealth division over the medium term.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com