In its third quarter results, in the nine months of the year it had reported gross mortgage lending overall of £16.7bn ($23bn), driven by lending the UK and Hong Kong. It did not specify a breakdown between the two regions.
Across its personal banking business, net interest income fell by £872m ($1.2bn) due to narrower margins amid lower global interest rates, but the bank said this was offset by the higher mortgage lending in these the UK and Hong Kong.
In the UK, the group’s profit before tax increased by £727m ($1bn) to £1.09bn ($1.5bn) compared to Q3 last year. This was attributed to lower reported credit impairment charges.
It added that in the UK, its Q3 revenue was up by six per cent year-on-year and up two per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Overall, the group’s profit before tax grew by 76 per cent to £3.9bn ($5.4bn).
HSBC said its revenue outlook was “becoming more positive” pointing to fee growth across many businesses and the stabilistation of net interest income, which it said was expected to rise in the coming quarters due to lending growth and policy rate rises.
The bank also reported strong fee growth during the period, with fees up by a quarter annually and 13 per cent higher quarter-on-quarter.
Its results also showed that its year-to-date gross mortgage market share in the UK was 8.6 per cent, up from 7.4 per cent in June. This was a contraction on the 13 per cent share of the market it held during the same period last year.
Noel Quinn, group chief executive, said: “We had a good third-quarter performance, with strong growth in profits supported by additional credit provision releases. Our strategy remains on track, with good delivery in all areas. This was reflected in more consistent top-line growth, robust lending pipelines across our businesses, and rising trade and mortgage balances.
“While we retain a cautious outlook on the external risk environment, we believe that the lows of recent quarters are behind us. This confidence, together with our strong capital position, enables us to announce a share buyback of up to $2bn, which we expect to commence shortly.”
