Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc’s third-quarter profit was “surprisingly ahead” of the bank’s own expectations, said Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Officer Sandy Flockhart.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, yesterday said pretax profit was “significantly’ higher than in the year-earlier period on an underlying basis that excludes movements in fair value on its own debt, after impairments declined in the third quarter to the lowest level since the first half of 2008.

“Most of the markets have done better than what we expected,” Flockhart said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong today. “Our businesses in Asia, Middle East and Latin America have performed well while the impairment situation in the U.S. is getting better.”

HSBC’s shares rose 3.8 percent to HK$92.10 at 10:29 a.m. in Hong Kong today, after gaining as much as 4.7 percent. The bank closed 4 percent higher in London yesterday after announcing its third-quarter profit.

The London-based bank posted $67 billion in provisions since the start of 2006, mostly in the U.S., following its acquisition of subprime lender Household International Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan is relocating to Hong Kong from London in February as the bank reduces lending in the U.S. and focuses on faster-growth emerging markets like China and India.

HSBC closed its U.S. consumer finance unit in March and a month later raised $17.8 billion in a rights offering to shore up capital. The bank, like Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, hasn’t received money from the British government.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at kwong40@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 21:37 EST