(Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on Wednesday reported a 4.1% rise in first-half cash profit, as it benefited from a pandemic-induced boom in home lending amid record low interest rates, but logged a slight drop in its margins.
The country’s no. 4 bank posted a strong rise in revenue from institutional customers as well as strong home loan momentum in New Zealand resulting in market share growth.
“We are on target to grow in line with the Australian major banks by the end of our financial year, but will do so with an eye to our margin performance,” Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said.
ANZ’s cash profit on continuing operations basis, a measure that banks focus on because it only includes ongoing business, came in at A$3.11 billion ($2.21 billion) for the six months to March 31, compared with A$2.99 billion last year and beat a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.99 billion.
The Melbourne-based bank’s net interest margin, a key measure of profitability that measures the difference between what banks charge for loans and what they pay, was 1.58%, compared with 1.65% in the second half of 2021.
The bank also said it seeks to establish a new listed parent holding company with two wholly owned distinct groups of entities: banking and non-banking groups under its control.
ANZ declared an interim dividend of A$0.72 per share, up from A$0.70 a year earlier.
($1 = 1.4096 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
