Pedestrians pass in front of HSBC signage displayed near Bay Street in Toronto, in this file photo.Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
HSBC Bank Canada says it had a loss in its fourth quarter and its 12-month profit was about one-third less than in 2014, largely because of increased provisions for customers in the energy sector.
The bank's profit was $414-million for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, including a $38-million loss in the fourth quarter.
That's down from the 2014 annual profit of $613-million, which included an $118-million profit in the final three months.
HSBC says it felt the negative impact of depressed commodity prices, particularly oil, in the second half of 2015.
Its loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions were $234-million, up $127-million from 2014, mostly because of the adverse conditions for its energy sector customers.
At the same time, the bank's operating expenses were up $84-million or 7.6 per cent to $1.12-billion, due to HSBC's investments in systems for detecting and deterring financial crime as well as adapting to customers' changing habits.
"In addition, expenses have also been adversely impacted by the effect of the lower Canadian dollar on expenses denominated in foreign currencies," HSBC Bank Canada said.
The bank is a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings PLC, a global bank headquartered in London.