By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks slipped Monday, pulling back from a record high as shares of HSBC Holdings PLC marked their worst loss in three years following financial results from the banking heavyweight.

The benchmark FTSE 100 ended 3 points lower at 6,912.16. It had opened with gains, and briefly surpassed the previous all-time closing high of 6,930.20 that was notched in December 1999.

But the FTSE 100 then felt the weight of shares of HSBC (HSBC). Their 4.6% drop, the biggest since November 2011, came after the company said its fiscal-year 2014 pretax profit was down 17% to $18.68 billion. Net profit slid to $13.7 billion, from $16.2 billion a year ago, as the bank was a hit with higher costs and provisions for misconduct (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsbc-posts-fall-in-profit-2015-02-23-3485413).

"I am surprised that other U.K. bank stocks did not react to HSBC's comments today because the trends for lower profits and higher regulatory costs are industry wide," Louise Cooper, analyst at Cooper City, wrote in a report Monday. " I await with interest what Lloyds will say on Friday and RBS on Thursday when they both report full-year results."

In the banking group Monday, Lloyds Banking Group PLC shares rose 1.3% and Royal Bank of Scotland PLC gained 032%. Barclays PLC picked up 0.5% but Asia-focused Standard Chartered PLC fell 4.7%.

Before HSBC's results were released, the bank in a statement acknowledged that Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver holds a Swiss account. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsbc-chief-hit-with-tax-avoidance-scandal-2015-02-23)

"Since being posted to the U.K. from Hong Kong in 2003, Mr. Gulliver has paid full U.K. tax on the entirety of his world-wide earnings, " the company said. The statement followed a report from The Guardian newspaper that Gulliver held around GBP5 million ($7.7 million) in a Swiss account, and is domiciled in Hong Kong for tax and legal reasons. The report comes as HSBC has been dealing with allegations it aided clients in dodging taxes through its Swiss unit.

"For all the recent media furor around potential conduct issues, it is the 'underlying' performance which, we believe, should be the greatest cause of investor concern -- right across revenues, costs and impairments," said Investec Securities analyst Ian Gordon in a note Monday.

HSBC Chairman Douglas Flint and officials from the HM Revenue and Customs agency are scheduled to appear before Parliament's Treasury Select Committee in London on Wednesday.

In other bank industry developments Monday, the U.K. government has cut its stake in Lloyds to 23.9% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-government-cuts-its-stake-in-lloyds-2015-02-23), a move that raised about 500 pounds ($770 million). The government during the 2008 financial crisis used GBP21 billion in taxpayer funds to rescue Lloyds.

Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland is set to name Howard Davies as its next chairman, the Financial Times reported. Davies, who once served as the head of the Financial Services Authority, will succeed Philip Hampton in the role of chairman this summer, according to the report.

Also pressuring the FTSE 100 were energy and mining shares, with Antofagasta PlC down 2.8%. The copper miner cut its fiscal 2015 cash-cost forecast by 10 cents a pound to $1.50 a pound, from $1.40 a pound, citing a weaker Chilean peso and lower oil prices. The revised forecast should help boost earnings and free cash flow, even in a challenging environment for commodity prices, said Jefferies analyst Chris LaFemina in a report.

"However, this cost deflation also highlights an ongoing risk in the commodities sector as many miners benefit from FX and reduced input costs, leading to a potential lowering and flattening of the cost curve," LaFemina wrote.

On the upside were shares of Associated British Foods PLC . They rose 0.7% after the ingredients maker and parent company of retailer Primark said underlying trading remains in line with expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/primark-parent-ab-foods-trading-in-line-with-view-2015-02-23). It also continues to expect a marginal decline in per-share adjusted earnings for the full year.

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