HSBC £4.6bn profit in just six months

HSBC is today set to smash the record for money made by any European company as it unveils first-half profits of around £4.6billion.

The amount is 22 per cent higher than last year's firsthalf figure and means the bank is well on track to dwarf the £7.5billion it made in the whole of last year.

Last year's profits were running at a rate of £238 per second. This year's first-half profit is around £290 per second. The figure will delight shareholders but is bound to provoke new allegations that banks are profiteering through