“Big 4” Aussie Banks Steadily Becoming “Big 1+3”

The Commonwealth Bank seems to be slowly but surely drawing away from the NAB, Westpac and the ANZ – each of which seems powerless to close the inexorably widening gap.
Read MoreThe Commonwealth Bank seems to be slowly but surely drawing away from the NAB, Westpac and the ANZ – each of which seems powerless to close the inexorably widening gap.
Read MoreThe rating is upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight and the target price increases to $25.70 from $22.50.
Read MoreThe big story from Westpac’s result on Monday wasn’t the lower earnings or higher dividend, it was evidence that the promised cost cutting was well underway and making inroads.
Read MoreA not unexpected weak interim result from Westpac with the country’s second biggest bank reporting a fall in earnings from a year ago as its cost cutting campaign kicked into gear.
Read MoreThe Equal-Weight rating and $22 target are retained.
Read MoreRising pressures on profit margins and the prospect of more to come has forced Westpac to bring forward by two years the bank’s long-promised target date for lower costs.
Read MoreWestpac chair John McFarlane apologised to shareholders after poor recent financial results raised serious questions about the bank’s ability to control its costs.
Read MoreThe sharp slide in the Westpac share price has forced it to alter the terms of its $3.5 billion buyback to cover the possibility that it will buy more shares than originally planned.
Read MoreMore woes for Westpac, with the company now facing legal action from regulator ASIC that will cost it more than $180 million in penalties and remediation.
Read MoreWestpac’s oversight of its NZ operations has been strongly criticised in an independent report the bank was forced to commission by the country’s Reserve Bank.
Read MoreTuesday’s solid full year result from the National Australia Bank concluded the strong recovery the big four have made from the pandemic damaged 2020 financial year.
Read MoreThe Buy rating and target price of $30.00 are retained.
Read MoreWestpac shares were hammered yesterday, losing more than 7% in value as investors looked through the higher earnings, higher dividend and share buyback to focus on rising costs.
Read MoreThe Buy rating and $30 target price are unchanged.
Read MoreSo will Westpac follow their Big Four peers down the buyback route in its full year results on November 1, after revealing a $1.3 billion hit to earnings from writedowns and other bookkeeping measures?
Read MoreWestpac has halted plans to sell its majority stake in Westpac PNG Limited and Westpac Fiji to ASX-listed Kina Securities and will retain it for the time being while it works out a future course of action.
Read MoreWestpac might be stuck with the remainder of its South Pacific banking operations after the most logical buyer was finally ruled out by the PNG competition authorities.
Read MoreDespite the regulatory troubles dogging it, Westpac has signalled it may follow rivals in launching a share buyback, saying its board will consider returning excess capital later this year.
Read MoreWestpac has hit its second money laundering problem in two years – this time in New Zealand where the key regulator has issued a formal warning to the bank for failing to report breaches of the country’s anti-money laundering law.
Read MoreThe broker makes no changes to forecasts and retains its Add rating and $29.50 target price.
Read MoreOpposite tacks for Westpac and NAB on Monday, with the former offloading its Australian life insurance business and the latter buying Citibank’s domestic consumer arm.
Read MoreWestpac has raised just on $1.1 billion from the sale of its Australian and NZ general insurance businesses as the big four bank continues a financial slimming campaign.
Read MoreInvestors shrugged off two bits of poor news for the country’s second biggest bank on Friday, one involving a possible $200m fraud and the other an $87m penalty for dodgy advice.
Read MoreLast week it kept its New Zealand banking business, on Monday Westpac revealed it was selling its Australian car finance businesses to non-bank financial group Angle Finance.
Read MoreBuy rating and target price of $29.50 are both retained.
Read MoreWestpac has done an about-face and is to retain ownership of its NZ banking operations, believing a demerger of the WNZL business would not be in the best interests of shareholders.
Read MoreTwo days after a solid interim result, a dividend and encouraging noises about cost cuts between now and 2024, Westpac is back in trouble with regulators.
Read MoreWestpac shares hit their highest level in 16 months on Monday thanks to a big tick of approval from investors for a better-than-expected interim result and dividend payout.
Read MoreWestpac is paying an interim dividend of 58 cents a share after revealing a solid rebound in earnings for the six months to March 31 from the depressed 2019-20 year.
Read MoreWestpac’s interim profit next week will take a $582 million hit from provisions, write-downs and a range of other “notable items”, the bank told the ASX in a Monday announcement.
Read MoreWestpac is reportedly looking at quitting New Zealand and retreating to its Australian core, telling the ASX yesterday afternoon that it had appointed Macquarie to explore the sale of the NZ business.
Read MoreWestpac is selling its Lenders Mortgage Insurance Limited (WLMI) to Arch Capital Group for a loss, while entering into a 10-year agreement for Arch to provide Lenders Mortgage Insurance to the Group.
Read MoreWestpac has joined rivals the Commonwealth and National Australia Bank (as well as the regional Bendigo and Adelaide) in reporting a solid recovery in earnings, thanks to the improving economic outlook.
Read MoreMorgans expects the upcoming result for the Commonwealth Bank ((CBA)) to likely increase upside risk to earnings and dividend forecasts for FY21. The Hold rating is maintained and the target price is increased to $25.50 from $23.50.
Read MoreIn more good news for investors, APRA has eased its dividend guidance for the banks and, from the start of 2021, will no longer be holding lenders to a minimum level of earnings retention.
Read MoreANZ Bank and National Bank hold their annual meetings this week and should have an easier ride than Westpac did on Friday. Westpac pledged at the meeting that shareholders will see a return to normal dividend payments in 2021 following a tumultuous year that has swiped the bank’s profits by 66%.
Read MoreInvestors have again ignored the step-up in regulatory action against Westpac by the key overseer, APRA. Fresh from criticising the bank (the country’s second-largest) immature culture and poor oversight on responsibilities in risk management and assessment earlier in the week, Westpac shares dipped by just 0.5% to $20.20 yesterday after APRA revealed it had forced the bank to agree to a court-enforceable undertaking (or CEU) to lift its game.
Read MoreWestpac will sell two general insurance businesses to German insurance giant, Allianz for $725 million. The sale includes a 20-year agreement for the distribution of insurance products to Westpac’s customers and will bolster the bank’s capital position by around 12 points.
Read MoreMore trouble with regulators for Westpac with the main financial overseer, APRA, now taking aim at the bank. The outcome could see Westpac having the existing penalty capital overlay of $1 billion boosted as a result of APRA finding breaches by Westpac of some key financial measures.
Read MoreOld favourites, bank shares returned to the fore on the ASX yesterday after the key regulator APRA revealed that its clamp-on dividends would be eased.
Read More