High street banking giant HSBC has today reported half-yearly profits of £7.8billion after closing a record number of branches across the UK over the past year.

Europe's biggest bank reported a five per cent rise in profits for the first six months of trading, up by about £500million compared to the end of last year.

It also announced a share buyback of up to £2billion which it plans to roll out by the end of the year, in an attempt to offset the impact of shares being paid out as dividends.

It comes just a few days after the announcement by Lloyds of half-yearly profits of £2.5billion. The company made thousands of employees redundant over the past year.

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC group chief executive, said, "We have had an excellent first half of 2017, reflecting the changes we have made since our Investor Update in 2015 and the strength of our competitive position.

"Our three main global businesses performed well, increasing profit before tax and growing market share in many of the products that are central to our strategy.

"We remain on track to complete the majority of our strategic actions by the end of the year."

HSBC chairman Douglas Flint called the results "extremely pleasing" but warned there were still uncertainties arising from the political tensions caused by Brexit and the election of US President Donald Trump.

"These uncertainties arise from increasing geopolitical tensions and ambiguous predictions around the shape of transition to, and final form of, the UK's future relationship with its major trading partners in the EU."

Since the 2008 financial crisis, HSBC has been closing branches - including Moreton-on-the-Marsh in Gloucestershire - as well as selling assets to make the company more profitable.

This has resulted in thousands of job losses across the company, and fewer high street branches, not only for HSBC but many of the major banks, as they continue to drive customers online.

The closure of 62 branches angered many, including the Federation of Small Businesses, who claimed the impact meant that many small towns and villages had been left without a single high street bank.