HSBC profit rises 79% as vaccine rollout sparks cautious optimism

LONDON: 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.