By Martin Mou

HSBC Holdings PLC's first-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year earlier, as the bank released allowances for expected credit losses due to an improved economic outlook.

Net profit surged to $3.88 billion from $1.79 billion in the year-ago period, the U.K.-based, Asia-focused lender said on Tuesday.

"The economic outlook has improved, giving us increasing confidence in our revenue growth plans," Group Chief Executive Noel Quinn said.

The lender's expected credit losses for the first quarter fell sharply to $400 million from $3.0 billion a year earlier.

Despite the profit rebound, HSBC's first-quarter revenue dropped by about 5.0% to $12.99 billion due to lower interest rates in all of its global businesses.

Looking ahead, the bank expects mid-single-digit percentage growth in customer lending for 2021 and reiterated it doesn't intend to pay quarterly dividends during this year.

Write to Martin Mou at martin.mou@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 27, 2021 00:36 ET (04:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Hsbc (LSE:HSBA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Hsbc Charts.
Hsbc (LSE:HSBA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Hsbc Charts.