HSBC shares suffer biggest one-day drop in nearly four years

Despite the drop in Q4, HSBC reported a 78% rise in annual pre-tax profits to more than £23bn. Photograph: Peter Summers/Getty Images

HSBC shares suffered their biggest one-day drop in nearly four years, after the bank recorded an 80% fall in profits linked to a writedown in the value of its stake in a Chinese bank.

Pre-tax profits fell to $1bn (£793m) in the final three months of 2023, down from $5bn a year earlier. This was primarily due to a $3bn charge linked to HSBC’s 19% stake in the Bank of Communications (BoCom) in China, which it bought in 2004.