HSBC performs well in China despite the crisis

HSBC China performed well in the first quarter despite the financial crisis, its China head said yesterday.

"Our first quarter results were robust and in line with expectations," said Richard Yorke, president and chief executive officer of HSBC Bank (China) Co Ltd.

He didn't give details of the bank's first quarter performance but said pre-tax profits in 2008 had increased by 85.2 percent to 2.19 billion yuan (US$321 million) and operating income grew 44.5 percent to 5.35 billion yuan.

HSBC said last month that it would be adding jobs and speeding up network expansion on the Chinese mainland this year.

The number of employees will grow from the current 5,500 by about another 1,000 by the end of the year. The bank had 79 outlets on the mainland at the end of last year and intends to increase that to 100 before 2010.

HSBC added 18 outlets on the mainland last year, which represented a growth rate of about 30 percent.