Profit at Europe’s largest bank, HSBC, was up 10% in the first half of this year compared to a year ago on strong earnings in Hong Kong.

Its profit before tax was $13.6bn (£8.7bn) in the first six months, compared to $12.3bn a year ago – beating forecasts of $12.5bn.

The lender also announced the sale of its Brazil unit to banking giant Banco Brandesco for $5.2bn.

The move comes as it tries to reduce costs with plans to cut 50,000 jobs.

“We are executing the actions that we announced at our investor update in June and our focus is on making significant progress during the remainder of the year,” the London-based bank said in a statement on Monday.

The sale of its Brazilian operations marks the bank’s retreat from the second-largest emerging market, where it has about 21,000 employees.

HSBC has also been considering moving its global headquarters from London and confirmed the decision by its board would be made by the end of this year.

HSBC’s Hong Kong listed shares were trading flat after the results.

The stock outperformed the benchmark Hang Seng index, which is down over 1%.