HSBC will now pay out 7 cents per share for the first half of the year.
HSBC’s shares in Hong Kong, its biggest market, rose 1.9% on Monday.
“These are good results that reflect the return of growth in our main markets and marked progress in the execution of our strategy. We were profitable in every region in the first half of the year,” CEO Noel Quinn said in a statement.
It announced in February that it would push even harder into Asia, increasing investments in the region by about $6 billion and identifying China, southeast Asia, and India as “key drivers” of its future growth.
While the company remains focused on those plans, it still has to contend with its single “biggest challenge,” the Covid-19 crisis, Quinn said Monday.
The bank has also been working to restructure “our portfolio of businesses in the first half of the year, investing in businesses that we intend to grow and withdrawing from areas in which we lack the scale to compete,” he noted.
“I’m pleased with the momentum generated around our growth and transformation plans,” he added.