CANBERRA: One of Australia’s biggest lenders, ANZ, has posted a record annual cash profit of 7.2bn Australian dollars ($5.1bn; £3.34bn). Analysts said the closely watched cash profit measure, which strips out some one-off items, would be welcomed by investors despite expectations for profits of A$7.29bn. “The core parts of the bank’s results were a pass mark,” said IG’s Evan Lucas. The result for the year to September marks a 1% rise on cash profits from a year earlier. The lender, which is the nation’s third-biggest bank by market value, also said its after-tax profit rose 3% to A$7.5bn.
The results follow National Australia Bank’s full-year profit report on Wednesday, which failed to impress investors after it missed expectations. A woman walks past Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) signage displayedImage copyrightAFP. Australia’s banking sector, particularly the so-called top four, which includes National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac, is regarded as being highly profitable.
The sector made it through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed, but is now facing tighter regulatory controls. Banks have been told to increase the amount of capital they put aside in order to protect their mortgage businesses. ANZ has also been focused on its operations in Asia in recent years, but its latest results in the region “had declined substantially for the period”, said Mr Lucas.
“We’ve seen a 32% decline in the bank’s international and investment banking division in Asia, and the bank seems to have eased its tone on growth in that area,” he said. The bank’s chief executive Mike Smith remained relatively upbeat, however, about the bank’s business in Australia and New Zealand.
“In a constrained environment, we have continued to see growth in our core customer franchises in Australia, in New Zealand and in key Asian markets, partly offset by the effect of macro-economic headwinds on the international and institutional banking division,” said Mr Smith.
