HSBC reported a first-half 2009 profit of $3.7 billion versus $8.3 billion last year as vastly improved global banking and markets revenue (up more than 2 times versus last year) was more than offset by higher provisioning, marks associated with the fair value of the bank's own debt, and revenue pressures resulting from the weak economy. Return on equity clocked in at 6.4% versus 12.1% last year, reflecting this global bank's relative strength during a very troubled time.
Following the bank's rights offering this spring, HSBC's Tier 1 ratio was 10.1% at the end of the first half, enhancing the bank's status as a high-ground bank with solid earnings power and capital levels. In stark contrast to most global banks, HSBC's loan/deposit ratio was only 79.5% at the end of the first half, affording the bank substantial firepower to redeploy assets from securities into loans and take advantage of organic growth opportunities as we move through (and eventually out of) this nasty credit cycle.
One of the drags on the bank continues to be its runoff portfolio consisting of $91.2 billion of troubled US consumer loans, a sour legacy resulting from the ill-considered Household acquisition. Overall, HSBC is much better positioned to chase down opportunities than many of its global peers. We're maintaining our fair value estimate.
Matthew Warren is a Morningstar associate director based in the United States.