HSBC sees at least 10% growth in Philippine operations this year

MANILA, Philippines - British banking giant Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) said it is optimistic its Philippine operations would register growth of at least 10 percent this year.

HSBC Philippines chief executive officer Tony Cripps said the double-digit growth is well in sight for 2010, as all its businesses registered strong performances.

“A 10-percent overall growth or across all businesses will be possible for 2010,” Cripps said yesterday, adding that 2011 will likely be a better year for one of the leading foreign banking institutions in the country.

Corporate and consumer lending grew by over 10 percent, earnings from its credit card business rose with the introduction of new variants, and the corporate debt market business was extremely productive, Cripps pointed out.

The HSBC chief executive noted that while the first half of 2010 was slow, the election of a popular administration and strong growth of the emerging Asian markets resulted in a strong surge in the banking business.

Also, the public-private partnership (PPP) projects that emphasized on infrastructure-related activities is expected to get off the ground by next year. This would result in actual bank lending, either as individual banks or in consortias, to appear in the balance sheets in the second semester of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012.

HSBC is deeply involved in the PPP projects, having been part of the PPP conference held in Hong Kong that resulted in pledges worth P400 billion from the private sector.

Cripps revealed that HSBC is holding talks with several private firms for PPP projects with emphasis on infrastructure-related activities. The Philippines is widely perceived as lagging behind its regional neighbors in terms of infrastructure spending.

The Philippine government recently announced that it needs an estimated P3.126 trillion worth of investments to finance various infrastructure projects from 2009 to 2013.

HSBC has vast experience in the region and globally in the area of financing for infrastructure projects in general, and infrastructure-related projects in the sectors of power, utilities, water, tourism and telecommunications.