TWO of the leading banks with a presence in Guernsey have posted bumper half-year profits. HSBC is on course for annual profits in excess of £9bn after announcing European record figures for the half-year.

The global banking group accumulated interim profits before one-off items of $10.25bn (£5.12bn), a 49% rise.

This was partly fuelled by the acquisition of US-based consumer finance business Household International.

Bottom-line figures rose 58% to $9.87bn (£5.14bn).

Group chairman Sir John Bond said: ‘We delivered a solid performance in the first half of 2004.

‘Our results reflect sound underlying revenue growth, a disciplined management of costs while investing for the future and improved productivity.’

The Royal Bank of Scotland added another £3.38bn to the bumper profits haul accumulated by the UK’s biggest banks in the first six months of 2004.

The group, whose brands include NatWest and Churchill, increased bottom-line figures by 17% on a year earlier as it attempted to beat the £6.16bn profit recorded for the whole of last year.

RBS’ performance was boosted by recent acquisitions and the strength of consumer borrowing.

The group backed off from mounting a takeover bid for Abbey, seemingly ruling this out as it was likely to run into problems on competition grounds.