HSBC's (HSBA) shares slipped about 4 per cent in morning trading after the bank announced that reported earnings for 2013 had missed consensus forecasts by about 9 per cent.
IC TIP:
Buy
at
628.5p
Management put the miss down to such hard-to-control costs as extra PPI redress provisions. HSBC set aside a further $756m (£454m) for that, but finance director Iain Mackay reckons the pain here is on a "declining trend". The UK bank levy also grew by $321m in 2013 to $904m. Despite this harsh treatment and the fact that HSBC generates 70 per cent of its profits in Asia, chief executive Stuart Gulliver insists the group is not thinking of shifting its headquarters to Hong Kong. He also quashed rumours that HSBC may spin out its UK arm as a separate bank.