Shares in Europe’s biggest bank by assets, HSBC, are tumbling on Tuesday after it dropped a troubling set of results.
HSBC said on Tuesday that profit before tax for 2016 fell to $7.1 billion from $18.87 billion in the previous year. That compared with the average analyst estimate of $14.4 billion.
The 2016 profit reflected a $3.2 billion impairment of goodwill in its global private banking business in Europe and the impact of its sale of operations in Brazil, the bank said in a statement to the stock exchanges.
As a consequence of the poor results, shares in the bank dropped like a stone as European markets opened. By 10.00 a.m. GMT (5.00 a.m. ET) the stock is down close to 6.3% to trade at £6.67 per share.
Here is the chart:
HSBC's shares have been among the best-performing European bank stocks since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union, climbing 53% against a 28% increase in the STOXX Europe index of 600 banks as the bank benefited from appreciation of the U.S. dollar. The bank also has substantially less exposure to British assets than the likes of Barclays, Lloyds, and RBS.
In the broader European markets, stocks are broadly higher after slipping a little at the start of trade on Tuesday. Gains are limited however, with France's CAC 40 up just 0.09%, and Germany's DAX 0.43%. Britain's FTSE 100 has fallen a little, down 0.29%, dragged lower by HSBC, along with private hospitals group Mediclinic, which has lost 6.6% after being downgraded by analysts at investment bank Jefferies.
Here is the scoreboard across the continent: