When HSBC announced its record-breaking $21bn pre-tax profit for 2005, it almost went unnoticed that the region that accounts for the smallest portion of the group’s bottom line was also the one that showed the strongest growth for the year. Latin America’s contribution to profit soared by nearly 50% to 3.1% of the total from 2.3% in the previous year.
The world’s second largest bank has been quietly building up its Latin American network with an eye on a booming domestic consumer banking market as well as growing demand by multinational customers for services in the region. In the past few months, HSBC has acquired Italian bank BNL’s Argentina operations for $155m. In February, HSBC bought UK bank Lloyds TSB’s assets in Paraguay for $15m, while a few weeks later it applied for a permit to operate in Peru’s banking system.
