LONDON - HSBC Finance Corp, the US consumer lending arm of UK banking group HSBC Holdings PLC, has delivered stronger first-quarter profits, helped by a decline in bad debt provisions. HSBC Finance Corp, formerly known as Household International, said pretax profits for the three months to March 31 came in at 967 mln usd, a 37 pct increase on the same period last year. Net income, or profit after tax, was up 33 pct on the year at 626 mln usd. The improvement came as lower bad debt provisions and a jump in revenues from activities other than lending outweighed a flat performance in the core consumer loans division. The bad debt charge fell 9 pct on the year to 841 mln usd, while non-lending revenues rose 20 pct to 1.462 bln usd. Income from lending came in at 1.888 bln usd, little changed from 1.820 bln usd one year earlier.
Consumer Watchdogs at HSBC (Household) Watch said the quarter reflected an abnormal amount of consumer complaints relative to unknown items on credit reports, late billing, no statements and more. “Our analysts are examining whether ficticious accounts were sold to generate revenue and why 10, 11, and 12 year old accounts showed up this quarter” said HSBC Watch. “We will also examine ‘non-lending revenue’ including HSBC Taxmasters”
said the group.
Related posts:
