Australia’s ANZ Group announces $1.3 billion buyback, first-half cash earnings drop 7%
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The country’s fourth-largest bank said cash profit was A$$3.55 billion ($2.35 billion) for the six months ended March 31, compared with A$3.82 billion a year ago and beating a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$3.54 billion, compiled by UBS.
Australian banks have allowed margins to fall over the last year as they struggle to compete in an intense home loan market, resulting in the lender posting a first-half net interest margin of 1.56%, down 19 basis points.
However, high rates of interest and inflation in the country have put a lid on borrowing capacity among Australians even as competition has heated up within the sector.
The Melbourne-listed lender also declared an interim dividend of 83 Australian cents apiece, up from 81 Australian cents per share a year earlier.
($1 = 1.5099 Australian dollars)