HSBC to retain Turkey business after review

HONG KONG / ISTANBUL

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HSBC has decided to retain its Turkish operations after the offers it received for the unit were deemed not to be in the best interest of shareholders, Group CEO Stuart Gulliver said in a statement on Feb. 22.

“We have therefore decided to retain and restructure our Turkish operations, maintaining our wholesale banking business and refocusing our retail banking network,” Gulliver said, as HSBC released its annual earnings, as quoted by Reuters.

Gulliver had said in November 2015 that the disposal of its business in Turkey would take a little longer.

HSBC Turkey CEO James Emmett also said the bank would strengthen its retail banking activities as well as remaining active in corporate banking in a written statement early Feb. 22. 

HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, has around 300 retail branches and corporate and investment banking operations in Turkey. 

Like many banks, HSBC is combating turmoil in global financial markets that has seen stocks and commodities plunge, while stricter regulations have driven up costs. Net profit for 2015 dropped 1.2 percent to $13.52 billion from the previous year, HSBC said in a filing on Feb. 22, while pre-tax profit of $18.9 billion missed analysts’ forecast of $21.8 billion.

Group chairman Douglas Flint described the performance as “broadly satisfactory” in a statement, as quoted by Agence France-Presse.     

Flint said China’s slower economic growth would create a “bumpier financial environment” in 2016, but the bank would continue to focus on the world’s second-largest economy as it becomes more consumer-orientated. “This transition is driving our focus on the Pearl River Delta as a priority growth opportunity, given its concentration of high-tech, research-focused and digital businesses,” he said, as quoted by AFP.    
 
HSBC earlier this month decided to keep its headquarters in London after a 10-month review, but Flint last week told the BBC it could shift 1,000 jobs to Paris if Britain votes to leave the European Union in June.