Tag: WBC

The 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.

A 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.

Rising 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.

Westpac chair John McFarlane apologised to shareholders after poor recent financial results raised serious questions about the bank’s ability to control its costs.

The 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.

More 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.

Westpac’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.

So 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?

Westpac 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.

Westpac 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.

Despite 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.

Westpac 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.

Westpac 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.

Investors 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.

Last 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.

Westpac 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.

Two 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.

Westpac 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.

Westpac 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.

Westpac’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.

Westpac 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.

Westpac 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.

Westpac 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.