HSBC’s profits have more than doubled in the first half of the year as economies come out of their defensive hiding places.

Pre-tax profit for H1 2021 rose to $10.8bn, compared to $4.32bn for the same period last year.

"I'm pleased with the momentum generated around our growth and transformation plans, with good delivery against all four pillars of our strategy. In particular, we have taken firm steps to define the future of our US and continental Europe businesses", HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn said.

The lender highlighted that its UK bank had reported profit before tax of more than $2.1bn in the period.

Hargreaves Lansdown senior investment and markets analyst Susannah Streeter said: “Given the frightening twists the global economy has had to deal with due to the emergence of new variants, the worry is that there could still be monsters lurking under the bed, so the bank is keen to stress it views the recovery as still in the early stages. If inflation lingers, central banks may be minded to push up rates more quickly but that still looks like it is quite far down the road.

“As well as expanding its overall wealth business, the bank has been shifting to Asia to try and sniff out higher returns, moving capital investment and staff from Europe and the US. Although recovery in the region has so far been good news for HSBC’s profits, it has faced reputational headwinds over accusations it was too close to Chinese authorities which have cracked down on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.  Worries are now rife that there could be a downturn in investment due to Beijing’s crackdown on tech and online educational firms in particular. So far the bank says it isn’t changing its forecasts of investment pouring in to seek out opportunities, but the days are still early, and there are some concerns it could upset its resilient recovery.’’

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