AFP, Hong Kong :
HSBC said Thursday that pre-tax profit fell 19 percent in the first quarter but the bank's chief described them as "a good set of results" after a turbulent 2016.
The Asia-focused giant has been on a recovery drive over the past two years to streamline the business and slash costs, and has laid off tens of thousands of staff.
London-based HSBC blamed the drop in reported profit to US$4.96 billion on a change in accounting the fair value of its debt, while the results from a year ago had included proceeds from the sale of its Brazil business.
The lender also posted a 19.5 percent fall in year-on-year net profit to $3.13 billion from $3.89 billion.
However, adjusted pre-tax profit excluding one-time items rose to $5.94 billion from $5.3 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast $5.3 billion in a survey by Bloomberg News.
"This is a good set of results," chief executive Stuart Gulliver said in a results statement.
He added that the adjusted pre-tax figure was boosted by a $1 billion share buy-back and cost-cutting.
In reaction, the group's London-listed shares rallied 3.87 percent to 670.20 pence around midday on the capital's rising FTSE 100 index.
"The bank's Asian focus has proved to be a key driver of returns so far in 2017," noted analyst Laith Khalaf at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.