Chickens home to roost

HSBC’s bet on Household has turned sour. Investors have been wondering since the global bank bought the downmarket US lender how the business would stand up to a rougher economic ride. The signs aren’t encouraging. The bank has just added an extra $1.8bn in 2006 provisions for Household, now HSBC Finance. That will drag the division’s pre-tax profits to about $2.3bn, 40% below previous estimates. That’s a big enough hit to deprive the whole group of half its profits growth. The bad news will cer...