HSBC 2001 Annual Report Download - page 14

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Description of Business (continued)
12
Geographical regions
Profit before tax split by geographical region
Year ended 31 December 2001
Europe Hong Kong
North America Rest of Asia-Pacific
Latin America
Total assets* split by geographical region
As at 31 December 2001
%
Europe 43.
3
Hong Kong 25.
6
North America 19.
9
Rest of Asia Pacific 9.
0
Latin America 2.
2
* Excludes Hong Kong SAR Government certificates of
indebtedness
Europe
Europe contributed US$3,542 million, or 44 per cent,
to HSBC’s profit on ordinary activities before tax in
2001 compared with US$3,658 million in 2000. The
United Kingdom contributed US$3,147 million in
2001 compared with US$3,127 million in 2000.
HSBC’s main subsidiaries in Europe are HSBC
Bank plc, Crédit Commercial de France and HSBC
Private Banking Holdings (Suisse) S.A.
HSBC Bank plc
In the United Kingdom, HSBC Bank plc provides a
comprehensive range of banking and related
financial services to personal, commercial and
corporate customers. Headquartered in London,
HSBC Bank plc has over 6 million personal current
accounts and a network of 1,666 branches in the
United Kingdom, including 42 outlets in
supermarkets. HSBC Bank plc has approximately 16
per cent of the personal current account market in
England and Wales. At 31 December 2001, on a
consolidated basis, HSBC Bank plc’s total assets
were US$293 billion, total customer accounts were
US$172 billion and total net customer loans were
US$129 billion.
HSBC Bank plc’s strategy is to build long-term
customer relationships by listening to customers,
understanding their needs and delivering the most
effective solutions. In following this strategy, the
bank is investing in several ways: in improving
customer relationship management systems, in
telephone and internet services, in developing
innovative and flexible products and in building a
reputation for fair pricing. Customers can now
choose to do their banking through branches, the
telephone, the internet, mobile phones and ATMs.
HSBC Bank plc aims to provide a consistently high
standard of service across all these channels.
Telephone services are increasingly popular with
customers, with a 21 per cent increase in calls in
2001. Internet banking, launched in 2000, now has
approximately 770,000 customers and 5 million
transactions were undertaken in 2001. Customers
also have access to approximately 3,000 HSBC Bank
plc ATM machines, over 36,000 cash machines
through the UK LINK network and over 600,000
ATM machines worldwide.
HSBC Bank plc’s personal banking services
include personal current and savings accounts, loans
and mortgages, wealth management services
including private clients, card services, and First
Direct.
In 2001, HSBC Bank plc secured its highest
share of net new mortgage business, 4.4 per cent
compared with 3 per cent in 2000. Low interest rates
are expected to keep the remortgage market busy,
encouraging existing borrowers to seek the best rates
from lenders. The bank should continue to be well
placed to take advantage of these market
opportunities.
In 2001, HSBC Bank plc further developed its
product offerings to personal customers. These
included ‘HomeStart’ , an innovative mortgage
appealing to first time buyers, allowing the customer
to pay interest only for three years and the
‘Performance Plus ISA’ for customers looking to re-
invest proceeds from the tax-exempt special savings
accounts (Tessas). Annual fee charges on the bank’s
3,542
3,883
481
1,088
-994
-1,000
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000