HSBC’s reported pre-tax profit more than doubles to $10.8 billion in first half of 2021

HSBC is scheduled to release its financial report card for the first half of 2021 at 12 noon Hong Kong/Singapore time on Monday.

Analysts expect the Asia-focused bank to report a big jump in half-year profit from a recovering global economy and lower provisioning for potential bad loans.

The bank’s reported profit before tax for the January-to-June period is forecast to more than double to $9.45 billion compared with a year ago, according to analyst estimates compiled by the bank.

But revenue is expected to fall around 4.6% year-over-year to $25.52 billion, according to the estimates.

Investors will also be watching for any update on dividend payouts by the bank.

The London-headquartered bank said in February that it will not pay quarterly dividends this year. But Chief Financial Officer Ewen Stevenson told CNBC in April that the lender will “look hard” at paying an interim dividend in the middle of the year.

HSBC shares in Hong Kong are up by around 1% in early trade Monday.