HSBC may be closing down its retail banking business in Russia,
but it is continuing to grow its retail banking business network in
Asia.
HSBC has opened its 16th branch in
Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.
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At the beginning of the year, HSBC had
announced that it would target growth in
its Thai retail banking business following the local
government’s easing of its restrictive banking rules.
The opening of the new branch, which will
serve as a sub-unit, follows HSBC’s news in late April that it
would shut down its retail banking business in Russia.
The CEO of HSBC
Vietnam, Thomas Tobin, said that the branch reflected HSBC’s plan
of growing its presence in Vietnam.
“We want to make sure
that customers are able to access our banking services with greater
convince while leveraging HSBC’s global connectivity, local
knowledge and national outreach to unlock Vietnam’s potential,” he
said.
Expansion
follows return to profits in retail unit
HSBC’s Vietnam
business generated pre-tax profit of VND1.4tr ($67.3m) in 2010, 38%
higher compared with a year ago.
In February, HSBC
reported profit before tax for the whole group of $19.04bn for
the 12 months to 31 December, more than double its profit for the
previous year (2009: $7.08bn).
For the first time since 2006, HSBC was
profitable in every business unit and region, including its
previously troubled US retail division.
In Hong Kong, HSBC’s profits before tax rose
by 13.1% to $5.69bn; in the rest of the Asia Pacific region,
profits rose by over 40% to $5.90bn.
