HSBC Holdings, the London-listed parent of Hong Kong's biggest lender, HSBC Corp, is expected to unveil a 6 per cent drop in net earnings to about US$6.23 billion when it reports its 2001 results today.
Group profits are expected to be hit by a big rise in provisions against loans in Argentina as well as credit-card defaults in Hong Kong.
Analysts warned that any surprises were likely to be bad news, with the quality of the group's US$4.9 billion lending to Argentine borrowers the greatest concern.
HSBC Corp and Hang Seng Bank also will unveil separate results today. The group's net profit was US$6.62 billion in 2000.
Dao Heng Securities' analyst Joanna Ng expects provisions and write-offs for bad debts and contingent liabilities at a group level to soar by US$789 million, or 76 per cent, to US$1.83 billion from US$1.04 billion in 2000.
Pre-provisioning operating profit, she believes, could be virtually unchanged at US$10.49 billion. But based on an assumption that up to half of the group's Argentine lending has gone sour, she believes provisioning charges could reach US$556 million.
