01 August 2012 7:24am

HSBC Bank Australia suffered a 34 per cent fall in earnings in the six months to June, after writing off a large corporate debt.

HSBC reported yesterday that its local operation made a pre-tax profit of A$87 million in the June half, compared with a pre-tax profit of $132 million for the previous corresponding period.

The commercial banking division made a pre-tax loss of $33 million, compared with a profit of $32 million in the previous corresponding period.

HSBC Bank Australia’s chief executive, Paulo Maia, said: "Commercial banking was impacted by a single, large...