BANKING PROFIT

Banking giant HSBC says its quarterly profit has almost doubled, boosted by rising interest rates around the world. The London-based firm reported profit before tax of $5.2bn (£4.3bn) for the last three months of 2022, up more than 90% from the same time a year earlier. However, pre-tax profit for the year as a whole fell by $1.4bn to $17.5bn, as it absorbs the cost of selling its French retail banking operations.

HSBC is also in the process of selling its business in Canada. The bank said it planned to use the money raised from that sale to make payouts to shareholders once the deal is completed.