LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - HSBC said its firstquarter profits almost doubled from a year ago to more than $8billion as bad debts and costs fell, with Europe's biggest bankshowing the benefit of a 3-year restructuring plan.
HSBC reported a pretax profit of $8.4 billion onTuesday, up from $4.3 billion a year ago and above the averageforecast of $8.1 billion from analysts polled by the company.
Losses from bad debts plunged 51 percent to $1.2 billion andcosts fell 10 percent in the first quarter from a year ago,benefiting from Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver's drive tostreamline operations, reduce complexity and axe businesses thatare unprofitable or lack scale. He has shed 52 businesses sincetaking over in early 2011.
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)