HSBC reports 5% higher profit for first six months

Share buybacks: A file picture showing a pedestrian passing a HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch in London. The bank has announced a share buyback, which once completed, will take the total of HSBC share buybacks since the second half of 2016 to US5.5bil. — Bloomberg

HONG KONG: HSBC Holdings PLC said profit grew 5% in the six months through June and announced its third share buyback in a year, indicating continued progress in the six-year turnaround plan of Europe’s biggest bank.

HSBC, like many global banks, spent the years up to the 2008 financial crisis expanding its empire with a string of acquisitions. Recent years have seen it cut jobs and sell assets worldwide to shrink the group back to profitability and maintain dividend payouts in an era of stricter banking regulations.