AN upbeat valedictory chairman's statement from Sir William Purves sent shares in HSBC rocketing up 57p to 1600p yesterday.
He told the annual meeting in London that the multi-national bank had performed according to plan in the first quarter of the year.
He added that it had not had to use any of the provisions it had made against potential bad debts in Asia, and its provisioning in the first quarter was as expected.
''Performance in the first quarter of this year was in line with our plan, with some entities slightly ahead of expectations.
However, fallout from the economic downturn in Asia continues to emerge.''
It had made a #175m special general provision and increased general provisions by #116m in light of the Asian financial turmoil in its results for last year.
Sir William said HSBC would be ready to handle the euro when the single European currency begins in January. It would ''squash'' the millennium bug and had entered 1998 in a good position to meet the demands of changing markets.
He concluded: ''I will leave you with the firm belief that the group's best years lie ahead.''
He has been succeeded as chairman by chief executive John Bond.
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