HSBC lifts hopes of recovery

HSBC Bank revealed profits for the first time in its third quarter update and for the first nine months of the year were better than expected and bad debts had fallen to their lowest level in 12 months. The strong performance was driven by the bank, which had maintained its record performance for the year to date. Analysts said the most promising news was that provisions in the troubled US consumer Household finance division had declined.

HSBC is winding down Household's sub-prime mortgage book and yesterday revealed it is selling the car finance unit along with $1bn of performing loans to Santander for $904m. The deal includes HSBC's loan-servicing platform, which Santander will use to manage the loans it has bought as well as HSBC's remaining $5.6bn of car loans.

HSBC is now concentrating solely on credit cards in US consumer finance and as a result of improved economic conditions, they plan to resume marketing spend to grow new card originations in certain segments. The division made a $1.13bn third quarter loss, against $271m profit last year.