HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) -HSBC Holdings ( HSBC ) reported a 26% slide in first-half pretax profit on Wednesday, missing analyst estimates, as impairments from its investment in Bank of Communications and exposure to Hong Kong real estate weighed.

Europe's largest bank posted a pretax profit of $15.8 billion for the first six months of this year, versus $21.6 billion a year earlier.

The result compared with the $16.5 billion average of broker estimates compiled by HSBC ( HSBC ).

The lender took a further $2.1 billion hit from its stake in Bank of Communications, following a $3 billion impairment it took in February 2024 amid mounting bad loans in China.

Expected credit losses grew by $900 million compared to the first half of last year to $1.9 billion, the bank said, partly due to its exposure to Hong Kong's troubled commercial real estate sector.

Europe's biggest bank, with a market value of $225 billion, announced a new share buyback worth up to $3 billion, on top of a $3 billion buyback programme announced earlier this year.

(Reporting by Selena Li in Hong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)