Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings said its trading in February was in line with market expectations following its strong start to the year.
The update accompanied the publication of the bank's prospectus for its record £12.9 billion rights issue, which was announced at the start of this month and will be voted on by investors on Thursday.
HSBC is raising the funds in a fully underwritten offer to boost its capital position and withstand rising bad debts in the United States and elsewhere.
HSBC said at that time that its performance in January had been strong and ahead of market expectations, particularly in its investment bank arm.
The bank reported a $9.3 billion profit for 2008, above almost all rivals but still down 62 per cent on the year after a big U.S. goodwill charge and a jump in bad debts.
Reuters