HSBC Holdings said that an uncertain global economy weighed on revenue growth in the first quarter, but underlying profits surged as bad loans fell and the bank made more money from businesses and mortgage borrowers in the UK and Hong Kong.

The bank, Europe's largest by assets, reported a sharp rise in net profit, to $6.35bn from $2.58bn. After stripping out the fluctuating value of HSBC's own debt and sold businesses, underlying pretax profit rose 34% to $7.59bn from $5.65bn in the first three months of 2012. Underlying revenue was up 5%, to $17.56bn from $16.8bn.