Incompetent BBC reporting

The BBC reports that "HSBC, the UK's largest bank, has said it has made a $17.2bn (£8.7bn) loss after the decline in the US housing market hit the value of its loans.
But its annual profits still rose 10% to $24.2bn (£12.2bn), up from $22.08bn the year before."


So the BBC are saying that HSBC both made a £8.7bn loss and a £12.2bn profit. Do you think someone could teach the BBC something about accountancy. HSBC have written off £8.7bn in bad loans (Balance Sheet item) whilst making a profit of £12.2bn (Profit & Loss item).

It's when you read tripe like that BBC article that you realise quite how poor their reporting actually is on anything other than football or 38 year old plots to assassinate Mick Jagger.