HSBC sells New York HQ, warns of second downturn

5th Oct 2009 08:45

HSBC has sold its New York headquarters for $330m in cash and will lease back the office block for a year.The sale, to a company controlled by Israeli businessman Nochi Danker, should complete by the first quarter of 2010.As part of the firm's commitment to keep the Big Apple as its US headquarter, HSBC wil lease the first 11 floors of the block on 452 Fifth Avenue for 10 years.Last week, South Korea's £125bn state pension fund revealed it is interested in buying HSBC's London base at Canary Wharf.The company, which raised £12.5bn from a rights issue earlier this year, is looking to bring in more money from the sale of some of its buildings.Chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, told the Financial Times he's convinced there will be a second downturn in the coming months and that he plans to delay any rush to expand the bank. "Is this a V recovery or a W?" Mr Geoghegan asked in an interview with the newspaper. "[I think] it's the latter. [If I'm right], we have to be very careful we don't grow the balance sheet so far before the recovery has come only to write it back into the impairment line later on. I'm cautious about growing too fast."HSBC is flying Geoghegan out to Hong Kong in February next year to lead the banking titan's increasing focus on emerging markets.