Bahattin Gönültaş
22 February 2016•Update: 22 February 2016
ANKARA
International banking giant HSBC has decided to keep its Turkish operations after offers the bank received were deemed not to be in the best interest of shareholders, the group’s chief executive (CEO) said on Monday.
"We have therefore decided to retain and restructure our Turkish operations, maintaining our wholesale banking business and refocusing our retail banking network," Stuart Gulliver said in a statement as the bank released its annual earnings. "This will provide better value for shareholders and continue to allow our clients to capitalise on HSBC’s international footprint."
The bank reported on Monday that its pretax profit increased by 1 percent to $18.87 billion for 2015 compare with $18.7 billion the year before. The bank total revenue stood at $57.7 billion.
Dutch ING group was set to acquire HSBC Turkey, it was reported in July of last year. BNP Paribas and Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp were also reportedly bidding for HSBC's operations in the country.
