HSBC's Mena profits up despite turmoil in region

HSBC's operations in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) reported a profit before tax of $747 million (Dh2,743 million) up 116 per cent compared to the $346 million (Dh1,270 million) reported in the first half of 2010. "Our focus markets put in a strong performance, with Egypt profit rising by 45 per cent, UAE by 110 per cent, and Saudi by 71 per cent compared to the first half of 2010," said Simon Cooper, CEO of HSBC Middle East and North Africa. The banks loans and advances to customers rose by five per cent compared to the previous half year first half, and customer deposits rose by 11 per cent. Globally, HSBC made a profit before tax of $11.47 million (Dh42 million) an increase of $370 million (Dh1,358 million) or 3.3 per cent compared with the first half of 2010. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was $8,929 million (Dh32,795 million) an increase of $2.3 billion (8.44 billion) or 35 per cent compared with the first half of 2010. Article continues below Loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions were $5.26 billion (Dh19.3 billion) in the first half of 2011; $2.25 billion (Dh8.25 billion) lower than the first half of 2010. "We remain positive on the outlook for emerging markets. We expect a soft landing in China and we believe Hong Kong is well-equipped to mitigate overheating pressures," said Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive of HSBC said in a statement. "We expect continued growth in the rest of Asia-Pacific and Latin America. In the Middle East, the outlook for the Gulf Cooperation Council economies is also positive." In the Mena region, the UAE was the biggest contributor to the bank's bottom-line. While the UAE operations reported $265 million (Dh972 million) pre-tax profits up by 33 per cent from $198 million (Dh726 million) reported in the first half of last year, commercial banking and global banking contributed 120 million and 119 million respectively to the bank's first half profits in the UAE. Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the other major contributors to HSBC's profits in the region. While Egypt accounted for $113 million (Dh414 million) marginally down from $117 million (Dh429 million) in the same period last year, Saudi Arabia's contribution improved from $107 million (Dh392 million) in the first half of last year to $183 million (Dh671 million) during the first half of this year. "Overall, these results are very satisfactory, given the instability and market disruption we have seen in the first half in our region and globally," said Cooper