HSBC Holdings reported a 26 per cent slide in first-half pretax profit on Wednesday, missing analyst estimates, as a US$2.1 billion impairment from its investment in Bank of Communications weighed.

Europe’s largest bank posted a pretax profit of US$15.8 billion for the first six months of this year, versus US$21.6 billion a year earlier.

The result compared with the US$16.5 billion average of broker estimates compiled by HSBC.