*

H1 pretax profit $15.8 billion, versus $16.5 billion

forecast

*

Bank takes second multibillion-dollar hit on Chinese bank

stake

in two years

*

HSBC ( HSBC ) sees credit losses up by $900 million, partly on Hong

Kong

real estate

(Adds details of earnings)

By Selena Li and Lawrence White

HONG KONG/LONDON, July 30 (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)