HSBC plans to cut 30,000 jobs

HSBC will shed 30,000 jobs as it retreats from countries where it is struggling to compete, Europe's biggest bank said on Monday after it reported a surprise rise in first-half profit.


HSBC will axe 30,000 jobs as it slashes costs and retreats from countries such as Russia, Poland and the U.S., where it is struggling to compete, Europe's biggest bank said after reporting a surprise rise in first-half profit.

HSBC's shares rose as much as 5 percent as first-half pretax profits of $11.5 billion were up 3 percent on a year ago, beating the $10.9 billion average in a Reuters poll.

The London-based bank said it had cut 5,000 jobs after restructuring operations in Latin America, the United States, Britain, France and the Middle East and that it would cut another 25,000 between now and the end of 2013.

That equates to 10 percent of HSBC's 296,000 workforce. The bank's 110,000 staff in Europe and North America will bear the brunt of the job cuts.