HSBC Beats Estimates with 26% Profit Rise

It was revealed on Tuesday that Europe's largest bank, HSBC

, saw 1Q profits rise 26%. This number was helped in no small part by increased income from the company's securities unit along with a decline in U.S. loan losses. The company saw a rise in pretax profit from $5.4 billion a year ago to $6.8 billion, HSBC said in a statement on Tuesday. The median estimate from analysts was $5.9 billion. Following the news, HSBC shares went up roughly 3.4% in the UK. They closed 1.2% lower at 548.6 pence. Those numbers give the bank a market value of 100 billion pounds. The numbers keep rolling in too. Pretax profit rose 5% to $3.08 billion, on the back of improved trading following a move by HSBC to provide unlimited three-year loans to the region's lenders through its Longer Term Refinancing Operation.