By Steve Slater
LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - HSBC has given its fourproblem businesses in Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and the UnitedStates as little as one year to prove their worth before "moreextreme" turnaround solutions are proposed, its CEO said onMonday.
Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told analysts he wouldconsider disposals to simplify the bank and improve returns,although he declined to say if any of the four big troublecountries could be sold.
"We're involved at the moment in fortnightly calls ... onBrazil, Mexico, United States and Turkey, which are clearly thefour which present the biggest problems in this regard(improving them)," Gulliver told a conference call after HSBCreported a 17 percent drop in pretax profit.
"We absolutely need to turn them round, or we would need tothink of more extreme solutions to the problem."
Asked how long the businesses had to prove their worth,Gulliver said: "I think we're talking 12 to 24 months."
Gulliver said there were also parts of its investment bankand commercial bank that need to improve returns.
"There are parts of the Group that aren't offering a returnthat's anywhere near their cost of equity ... and there are nooptions in terms of that restructuring that we would notconsider."
The four countries are four of HSBC's most important. It has21,000 staff in Brazil, 17,000 in Mexico and 15,000 in theUnited States and has pinpointed Turkey as one of its prioritygrowth markets. (Reporting by Steve Slater, editing by Sinead Cruise)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)
