A drop in mortgage lending helped contribute to a small fall in profits at HSBC over the first three months of this year – but as with other major high street banks, its first quarter results have remained ahead of forecasters’ expectations. 

In total, HSBC saw its pre-tax profits decrease by $0.2bn over the three months to the end of March to $12.7bn. However revenue for the first quarter at the bank increased, up by $0.5bn to $17bn, excluding one-off items. 

HSBC said it has seen a $5bn drop in customer lending balances when compared to the last quarter of 2023. However, this fall has been offset by currency movements at the international bank. HSBC said that on a constant currency basis, lending balances increased by $5bn, with growth seen in its mortgage balances in its wealth and personal banking division in the UK. It said it also saw growth in lending across  its commercial banking and global banking divisions. 

While the results were broadly in line with expectations and other banking results, there was one surpise, with the group chief executive Noel Quinn announcing he intends to retire. 

Quinn says we was pleased with the start to 2024. “We completed the sale of our Canada business and agreed the sale of our Argentina business, both of which allow us to focus on markets with higher value international opportunities. Our good profit performance of $12.7bn in the first quarter has enabled us to continue the trend of rewarding our shareholders.”