The Asian lender reported a fall in profits for the first six months of the year.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank, one of the world's strongest banks, yesterday reported first-half 2016 profit, excluding loan impairments and other provisions, of HK$10.24 billion ($1.32 billion), a fall of 10 per cent on a year before. Attributable profits slumped 60 per cent on the year to HK$8 billion.

Operating profit fell 12 per cent to HK$9.516 billion from a year earlier, the bank said in a statement.

Pre-tax profit, meanwhile, slumped by 56 per cent from a year earlier to HK$9.499 billion. Excluding the gain on partial disposal of Industrial Bank in the first half of 2015, profit before tax fell less heavily; it was down by 14 per cent year-on-year and up 8 per cent compared with the second half of 2015.

Return on average ordinary shareholders’ equity was 12.4 per cent.

The bank said it had a cost/efficiency ratio of 32.7 per cent, far below the sort of average ratios (towards 80 per cent) seen among the world’s wealth management industry, for example. At the end of June, the bank had a total capital ratio of 21.2 per cent.

In late May this year, Hang Seng Bank appointed one of its senior staff to the role of head of retail banking and wealth management, following the retirement of a predecessor. Margaret Kwan took up the role at the start of July, replacing Nixon Chan, who retired. Simon Yuen, head of customer value management, took on the position of head of consumer assets from Kwan.