HSBC 2023 record profit spoiled by China investments

HONG KONG -- HSBC Holdings on Wednesday reported a record annual pretax profit of $30.3 billion in 2023, a 78% jump from the previous year, boosted by the completion of the sale of its French retail banking business, but was hit by write-offs related to its investments in China's Bank of Communications.

George Elhedery, group chief financial officer, said during an earnings call that the provision to the Chinese bank "is not related to China commercial real estate" and is "an accounting process that takes various macroeconomic data, etc. So there is no direct correlation to any specific sector in the economy."