HONG KONG HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn will retire, it said on Tuesday, in a surprise departure from the bank that he has overhauled in the past five years through a sweeping series of asset sales across the globe.

The bank said has already launched a formal process to find a successor. Chief financial officer Georges Elhedery, appointed to the number two role last January after a sabbatical before which he headed the bank's markets business, is likely the leading internal candidate for the job.

The bank also reported pretax profit that came in at US$12.7 billion for the quarter ended March versus US$12.9 billion a year earlier, as it struggles to cope with rising costs from expansion in Asia and amid inflationary pressures.

The results were better than the US$12.6 billion average of analysts' forecasts compiled by HSBC.

The London-headquartered bank also announced US$3 billion worth of share buybacks on top of US$2 billion in share purchases announced in February.

  - Reuters