HSBC reports first-half profit rises 4.6 percent

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc said on Monday its pretax profit rose 4.6 percent for the first half of the year, as Europe's biggest bank showed early progress in its strategy of returning to growth mode after years of restructuring.

HSBC reported a pretax profit of $10.7 billion in the six months through June, up from $10.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

In June, John Flint, HSBC's group chief executive, set out a three-year plan to invest $15 billion-$17 billion in areas such as technology and in China, as part of the bank's swing from a strategy of cost-cutting to one of growth.

(Reporting by Alun John and Lawrence White; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)