Hang Seng Bank profit more than doubles

Hang Seng Bank Ltd. (0011.HK) stated Monday that its first-half net profit more than doubled from a year earlier on the back of an one-off gain from the partial sale of its interest in China’s Industrial Bank Co. (601166.SH)

The Hong Kong lender, which is controlled by HSBC Holdings PLC 0005 said its first-half net profit was 20.05 billion Hong Kong dollars ($2.59 billion), up from HK$8.47 billion a year earlier.

Excluding the HK$10.64 billion gain from the partial disposal of the Shanghai-listed Industrial Bank during the period, its first-half profit rose 11% from a year earlier, it said.

The bank declared a second interim dividend of HK$1.10 per share, bring the total dividends in the first half to HK$2.20, the same as for the first half of 2014.

It expects operating conditions to remain “very challenging” for the rest of the year amid China’s economic slowdown, ongoing uncertainty in the eurozone and the normalization of monetary policy in the U.S.

Source: MarketWatch