Stock Spotlight: One of the world's 'most polished PR machines' HSBC doubles profits in Q3

Asia drove majority of profits

HSBC has doubled its profits year-on-year to $4.2bn despite a reduction in revenues, the bank’s Q3 results revealed, as it continues to draw ire from investors who have declared the company “one of the most polished PR machines in the world”.

The company returned a "markedly better performance in the third-quarter", according to Adam Vettese, analyst at eToro, who explained that a large factor in the doubling of profits was the "release of cash set aside for loan defaults due to the improving economic picture and the better-than-expected credit performance of its book". "Europe, including the UK, produced a strong quarter, reversing a steep loss in Q3 last year, while Asia - HSBC's biggest market - once again drove the bulk of profits," he added. Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, was also positive o...