Pre-tax profits at HSBC's corporate, investment banking and markets unit surged a third to a record $4.2bn (€3.1bn) in the first half of the year, with Europe leading the growth as the bank shrugged off the loss of its biggest advisory mandate, for German power group E.On.

HSBC, which today kicked off a hectic first-half reporting schedule for European banks, added more than $1bn to the $3.1bn in profits it earned from corporate, investment banking and markets work in the same period last year.