HSBC Q1 profit rises 79% as Covid vaccine rollout sparks cautious optimism

Bank releases $400 million of provisions on improved outlook; lender unlikely to repeat level of writebacks through 2021, says CFO

HSBC Holdings PLC reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and released $400 million it had set aside to cover pandemic-induced bad loans, as successful vaccine rollouts in the United States and Britain prompted a brighter economic outlook.
 

HSBC cautioned, however, that uncertainty about the global recovery meant it was unlikely to sustain that level of reduction in the $3 billion bad debt provision it had set aside a year ago as the pandemic took hold.
 

"We are still being relatively cautious, and we've retained about 70% of the reserve build up we did last year," Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson told Reuters.