Midland Bank owner HSBC yesterday announced a 14 per cent profit drop for the first half of the year in a stark illustration of the havoc wrought by Asia's economic crisis.

HSBC revealed that bad debts resulting from the Asian economic crisis had risen by more than £500 million sterling in the first half of the year.

The group posted pre-tax profits for the half year to June 30th of $3.68 billion (£2.26 billion), compared with $4.28 billion (£2.63 billion) for the same period last year.