Shanghai, China, Apr 27 (EFE).- Europe's largest bank, HSBC, increased its profits by 117.4 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2021 to $3.880 billion, the entity reported today.

In the earnings release sent Tuesday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where HSBC is listed, group chief executive Noel Quinn said the figures reflect "a good start to the year," highlighting "significantly lower expected credit losses," which the company attributes to the improvement in the economic outlook.

Between January and March, reported revenue fell by 5 percent to $13 billion, which HSBC mainly attributes to the impact of interest rate reductions throughout 2020 in all businesses globally.

In the geographical breakdown, the bank focuses on profits before taxes, which in its main market, Asia, experienced a slight increase of 0.55 percent to $3.758 billion, while in Europe it managed to get out of the losses and posted a gross profit of $997 million.

HSBC obtained a positive result in all the regions in which it operates, also managing to exit losses in North America and multiplying its profits before tax in Latin America by three and in the Middle East and North Africa, almost by eight.

Total earnings before tax rose 79 percent to $5.8 billion, while operating profit increased by 74.3 percent to $4.894 billion.

The net operating income of the financial institution, one of the largest in the world, was $13.421 billion, 25.9 percent higher than that registered in the first quarter of 2020, when the group had already begun to suffer the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There was no great variation in the total net of loans granted at the end of the quarter, a figure that contracted by an almost imperceptible 0.01 percent.

The group announced in February that it had no intention of paying quarterly dividends throughout this year, although it clarifies that the board will consider paying a semi-annual amount when they publish the results for the first half of 2021.

Looking ahead, Quinn celebrated the "good momentum" with which his company faces the second quarter, but warns that there are still "uncertainties" that cause HSBC to opt for "conservative positions on capital, funding, liquidity and credit." EFE

© 2021 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles