HSBC: Mortgages Improving but Legacy Concerns Continue

The latest results from London-based HSBC Holdings PLC show its mortgage business in the United States and two other regions improving in some respects, but runoff of troubled legacy assets still leaves U.S. operations with net losses. HSBC USA Inc. generated $59 million in residential mortgage banking revenue in the three months ended June 30, up from $14 million during the same period a year ago. But the unit as a whole netted a loss of $249 million for the second quarter that was greater than the $174 million loss it took in the second quarter of last year. Its HSBC Finance Corp. unit, which discontinued its real estate-secured lending earlier this year and suffers from its past subprime lending activity, took about a $5.96 billion net loss during the three months ended June 30, compared to approximately $1.44 billion during the same period a year ago. The global banking company as a whole, which reported interim results for the first six months of this year, generated a $5.02 billion profit. This was down 51% from the same period a year ago. North America was the only one of the six world regions the company does business in that did not generate a profit. In addition to the mortgage banking revenue gains noted by HSBC USA, the company said it has seen positive mortgage market developments in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, where there have been market share gains.