HSBC has sold its banking operations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras to Colombia’s Banco Davivienda for $801m (£513m), continuing its retreat from countries where it lacks scale.
HSBC said the sale marks its 18th deal in the past year, with the combined deals releasing more than $48bn of risk-weighted assets.
The business being sold had 136 branches, with assets of about $4.3bn and loans of $2.5bn.
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC chief executive, is reshaping the bank to cut annual costs by $3.5bn, lift profitability and sharpen its focus on Asia.
Davivienda, Colombia’s third-largest bank, will pay cash for the deal, which is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of this year.
