Second quarter pre-tax profit at UK and Hong Kong-based HSBC nearly halved year-on-year, after revenue at the bank was hit by slowing economic growth in Britain and Hong Kong.
Quarterly pre-tax profit came in at $3.61 billion, 45 per cent lower than $6.57 billion a year earlier.
First half pre-tax profit also slid 29 per cent, more than analysts expected.
Pretax profit in the first half of the year hit $9.7 billion, down from $13.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, HSBC said. That was below analysts' estimates of $10 billion.
HSBC is battling uncertainty in its two key markets over the EU referendum in Britain and the impact of a slowdown in China on Hong Kong.
The major banks have seen their profits slide due to record low interest rates and spiralling regulatory costs have been weighing on Europe's banking sector.
HSBC announced a plan to buy back up to $2.5 billion in shares in the second half of the year.
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC chief executive, said that the EU referendum had caused volatility that was expected to last for some time.
“Following the outcome of the referendum...there has been a period of volatility and uncertainty which is likely to continue for some time,” HSBC Group Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said in the statement issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
“We are actively monitoring our portfolio to quickly identify any areas of stress, however it is still too early to tell which parts may be impacted and to what extent,” he said in the statement.
Lloyds had said last week that Brexit was behind its decision to cut 200 branches and another 3,000 jobs.
However HSBC said after the referendum that it would not re-open a review into whether to move its headquarters away from the UK.
Douglas Flint, chairman, told City executives gathered days after the vote at a conference in London that HSBC would stick to its plan to keep its headquarters in the UK.
“We said at the time we made the decision that we’d taken that [a Brexit] into consideration and that in the event of this outcome we would not call for that to be revisited,“ he said.
