Global banking major, HSBC has reported its highest-ever profit from its India operation in 2021 on the back of higher industrial borrowings. According to the London-headquartered bank, out of reported pre-tax profits of $18.9 billion for 2021, the bank raked in about $1,110 million profits from Indian operations.
Pre-tax profits from Indian operations were 8% higher than $1,024 million in 2020. The increase in profits, driven by lending to businesses comes under the bank’s commercial banking vertical.
Commercial banking profits rose 41% to $265 million. Global banking and markets business was the largest contributor to net profit at $593 million — unchanged from last year.
The bank’s lending profits grew due to an increase in the size of its loan book. Corporate loan books grew at a compounded rate of 16% in the last five years led by a tripling in loans to SMEs. The bank’s lending to the SMEs segment crossed $1 billion in early 2021 from $300 million in 2018.
According to HSBC, India is the fourth-largest contributor to HSBC’s profits after Hong Kong ($5.9 billion), the UK ($3.4 billion), and Mainland China ($3.3 billion). Besides being a large market for HSBC, India is also the bank’s largest employment centre with 38,000 employees.
