Europe's biggest bank, HSBC Holdings, said its first-quarter results were better than those achieved in the same period last year.

The US, Hong Kong and the UK had all performed well and the bank's overall credit experience remains good, John Bond, HSBC executive chairman, said at the bank's annual shareholder meeting.

Mr Bond retires after the AGM and will be replaced by Stephen Green, the bank's CEO since June 2003.

"When we reported our results for 2005 in early March we said that, although we remain mindful of the imbalances in the world economy, the outlook for 2006 was encouraging. So far, this has proved to be the case," Mr Bond said in a statement.

"We have seen broadly based economic growth. The US economy has been strong and it is now clear that the spike in bankruptcy filings experienced in the final quarter of last year was a result of changes in bankruptcy laws rather than economic deterioration," he added. Mr Bond said results at HSBC's investment banking unit (CIBM) reflect favourable trading conditions over the first quarter. He said the bank was on track and gaining momentum in its investment in CIBM and that HSBC remained firmly committed to the five-year strategic plan for the unit.

"As at the end of the first quarter, the results of all of our customer groups were better than those achieved during the same period last year," Mr Bond said.

Mike Powell, head of global markets at HSBC, told Reuters in an interview earlier that Europe's largest bank expected first-quarter results from its markets business to match stellar earnings at rivals but warned that investors were in for a volatile summer of trading.

HSBC is three years into a five-year plan to build up its investment banking business and Mr Powell said the departure last week of the division's co-head, John Studzinski, would have only a modest impact on the group's plans.

The bank will give a trading update on May 30 ahead of the announcement of first-half results on July 31.