ANZ accumulates more than a billion dollars in half-year net profits

The country’s largest bank has posted a stable first half result, reflecting a challenging economic environment that is expected to continue for the rest of the year.

ANZ Bank reported a 4% increase in net profit on revenue growth of 1%.

The bank’s chief executive, Antonia Watson, said the bank’s performance slowed in the second half of last year, hit by persistently high inflation, a restrictive official cash rate, rising unemployment and a drop in consumer confidence. companies and consumers.

He said economic pressures were likely to continue throughout the year and unemployment was expected to rise further and more households and businesses would be affected by the crisis.

Despite subdued customer activity in the housing market, it said mortgage lending market share grew with $10.1 billion in new home loans. Most customers opted for higher mortgage interest rates and around 17% still have mortgage interest rates below 5%.

“Given the more challenging environment we find ourselves in, we must remain cautious. The number of customers falling behind on their payments is increasing,” he said.

Customer deposits rose 2% in the period, with more customers transferring money to term deposits.

Watson said corporate and agricultural clients were cautious about taking on further debt, although there was a strong response from regional businesses looking to reinvest following last year’s devastating extreme weather events.

In addition, business and agricultural customers drew down $15 million in loans to finance assets or projects that demonstrated environmental benefits through the ANZ Business Green Loan, bringing total lending since launch to $42 million.

“Climate change remains a priority for ANZ NZ, particularly supporting our customers to reduce their climate impact and improve resilience,” he said.

Watson said the bank also continued to invest in technology and combat cybercrime, along with the rest of the banking sector.

He said the Commerce Commission’s report into competition in personal banking indicated the market structure and profitability of New Zealand’s five largest banks were consistent with banking sectors in other countries, with similarly sized markets.

The bank’s owner, Australian group ANZ, reported stable first-half revenue of A$10.15 billion and a 4% drop in net profit to A$3.41 billion.

Key numbers for the six months ending in March compared to a year ago:

By Nona Pelletier from rnz.co.nz