The boss of HSBC has said that "UK growth needs strong banks" after saying its profits soared by nearly a quarter this year and amid calls for the Government to raise taxes on bank earnings. HSBC recorded a pre-tax profit of 19.5 billion US dollars (£14.5 billion) for the first six months of the year. This was 23% higher than the same period a year ago, and above the 18.9 billion US dollars (£14.1 billion) that most analysts had been forecasting. It rounds off a bumper reporting season for the UK's high street banks, joining Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest in recording higher profits year on year and beating analysts' expectations. "So the UK growth requires strong banks."