Multinational banking giant HSBC Plc sees its acquisition of Bank of Bermuda as a possible springboard for "further expansion".

Global group chairman Sir John Bond made the remark in his annual address following HSBC's AGM in London on Friday.

In the speech, Sir John - who visited Bermuda in January ahead of the $1.3 billion Bank of Bermuda sale at a vote in February - spoke at length on HSBC's performance and returns for shareholders during the previous year.

But in capping off his speech, he turned his attention to the present year with the Bank of Bermuda acquisition being his first mention.

He said: "Turning to 2004, in February we were delighted to make an investment of $41.3 billion in the Bank of Bermuda, where we see potential for further expansion and which adds significant scale to our fund administration, private banking, trustee and payments and cash management business."

Sir John also spoke about the returns HSBC had delivered to its shareholders in 2003 - an area that former Bank of Bermuda shareholders may be watching closely as they consider reinvestment options for the money they were left with after the sale. Bank management estimate that about $900 million of the total $1.3 billion pot went to Bermuda residents

Sir John said that, during the previous year - a period in which the company posted record results with profits rising to 41 percent to $8.8 billion - HSBC had met an aggressive target of doubling its total shareholder return, or TSR.

He added that the company had, in doing so, outperformed its peer group.

"A hundred pounds invested in our competitors would have returned ?126; the same investment in HSBC, ?211. If you had invested in the FTSE-100, the return would have been ?87," he told those assembled at the annual general meeting.

And he said the company's focus on growth and expansion in 2003 - with HSBC making several acquisitions in that year including the establishment of a banking base throughout Mexico and the much-talked about purchase of US consumer finance group Household - could be said to have attributed to the solid returns it was able to deliver to HSBC investors.

"Our results and TSR performance owe much to the improved geographical and business diversification that has characterised HSBC's progress in recent years," Sir John said.

For the rest of the year, Sir John said the global economic outlook was "uncertain" as expectations of rising US interest rates and the impact of higher oil prices had yet to flow through economic activity.

"The structural imbalances evident in the global economy continue to pose a risk of an uneven pattern on economic recovery," he said.

But Sir John concluded that HSBC, which is the second largest bank in the world based on market capitalisation, could weather the uncertainty.

"With our capital strength, our liquidity and our diversification by both geography and customer group, HSBC remains well-positioned in the event of any volatility that may occur," he said.