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HSBC's US Lending Unit Hit By $3.4 Billion Charge
HSBC Holdings PLC said it took a higher-than-expected $3.4 billion impairment charge on bad debts at its HSBC Finance unit for the third quarter, but said revenue growth across the bank's global operations 'more than offset' the charge.
In addition to the impairment charge -- which came on top of $4.1 billion in charges for the first half -- HSBC Finance, the bank's U.S. consumer-lending business, boosted its reserves against bad mortgages to $3.4 billion from $2.6 billion.
Impairment charges and loss reserves at HSBC Finance are being closely watched, because it is one of the U.S.'s largest lenders to people with weak credit, and was one of the first to signal problems in subprime mortgages a year ago.
The bank yesterday gave a third-quarter trading update for its entire business, and reported earnings results at HSBC Finance for the period.
Standard & Poor's Corp. said HSBC Finance's numbers showed the first material signs of deterioration in its branch-sourced mortgages and unsecured lending. S&P revised the outlook on HSBC Holdings' double-A credit rating to stable from positive, to reflect the lower quality of the unit's lending portfolio. To guard against a credit-rating downgrade at HSBC Finance, HSBC said it injected $750 million into the business on Nov. 8.
The bank said that it expects delinquencies and defaults on mortgages within HSBC Finance to continue to rise as long as U.S. house prices keep falling, and that it will close branches and reduce the size of the overall consumer-lending business to reflect tighter lending conditions and reduced demand.
Chairman Stephen Green said in a conference call, 'There has been a broad deterioration of the whole housing market and associated credit. I don't think anybody knows if we've reached the bottom. The U.S. economy is a conundrum.'
HSBC said 5.5%, or about $4.8 billion, of mortgages it services or originated were two or more payments overdue at the end of the third quarter. That compared with 4.3%, or around $3.7 billion, as of June 30.
汇丰控股有限公司(HSBC Holdings PLC)表示，公司旗下的HSBC Finance第三财政季度记入了34亿美元的债券资产减值支出，规模大于先前的预期,但是全球业务收入的增长足可抵消这些支出。
除了债券减值支出之外，HSBC Finance还将其抵押贷款坏帐拨备从此前的26亿美元提高到了34亿美元。HSBC Finance是汇丰控股设在美国的经营消费信贷业务的子公司，今年上半年它已经记入了41亿美元的债券资产减值支出。
市场现在都在密切关注HSBC Finance在债券减值支出及坏帐拨备方面的消息，因为它的次级贷款发放规模在全美位居前列，也正是它在一年前率先发出了次级抵押贷款市场暗藏危机的信号。
汇丰控股周三发布了第三财政季度的最新交易情况，同时也发布了HSBC Finance的当季业绩报告。
标准普尔公司(Standard & Poor's Corp.)说，HSBC Finance的业绩数据让人们首次看到了反映抵押贷款和无担保贷款领域形势恶化的实实在在的迹象。标普因此将HSBC Finance的AA信用前景评级从此前的“正面”下调到了“稳定”，以此反映该行信贷资产质量出现下降的状况。为防止HSBC Finance的信用评级被下调，汇丰控股表示它已于11月8日向HSBC Finance注入了7.5亿美元的资金。
汇丰控股表示，只要美国房价继续下滑，HSBC Finance抵押贷款的拖欠率和违约率就会进一步增加；鉴于放贷条件的收紧和借贷需求的下降,它将关闭一些分支机构，缩减其消费信贷业务的规模。
汇丰控股主席葛霖(Stephen Green)在一次电话会议上表示，整个住房市场及相关信贷领域的形势都在不断恶化。“我想没人知道我们现在是否已经触底。当前的美国经济是一个困局。”
汇丰控股表示，截至第三财季末，两次以上的抵押贷款还款延期比例为5.5%（约合48亿美元），今年上半年末时，这一比例是4.3%，涉及金额约为37亿美元。
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