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- Banking giant ANZ (ANZ) has become the third-largest mortgage lender in Australia and seen its cash profit double in its latest half-year report
- The company posted a cash profit from continuing operations of $2.8 billion for the six months ending March 31, up considerably from last year’s $1.4 billion
- ANZ says the increase is on the back of a recovery of business activity and a strong property market
- Additionally, the company will also pump out a dividend of 70 cents per share to its current shareholders
- On the market this morning, ANZ is in the grey and trading at $28.83 per share
Banking giant ANZ (ANZ) has become the third-largest mortgage lender in Australia and seen its cash profit double in its latest half-year report.
The banking giant posted a cash profit from continuing operations of $2.8 billion for the six months ending March 31, up from last year’s $1.4 billion.
ANZ says the increase is on the back of a recovery of business activity and a strong property market.
Due to these results, the company will also pump out a dividend of 70 cents per share to its current shareholders.
ANZ’s statutory profit for the first half of the financial year 2021 came in at $2.9 billion, up 45 per cent the previous half-year.
CEO Shayne Elliott says work done over the past five years to simplify operations and strengthen ANZ’s balance sheet helped the company deliver strong first-half.
“Australia Retail & Commercial had another good half, becoming the third-largest home lender in the market. Deposits performed well, with retail and small business customers behaving prudently by building solid savings and offset balances through the half,” he said.
“Lower revenues in our Institutional business were largely expected due to the impact of falling interest rates as well as a normalisation of Markets revenue after an exceptionally strong 2020,” he added.
Over the period, the bank provided around 92,000 new home loan accounts in Australia and around 42,000 in New Zealand.
Shayne believes while many households and businesses are still doing it tough, Australia and New Zealand are emerging from “the sharpest contraction in economic activity in a generation quicker and stronger than many believed possible.”
“This is a credit to Government intervention and the industry working hard to provide customers with the support needed at a critical time,” Shayne said.
“There is still significant uncertainty. You only need to look at how the pandemic is playing out overseas, as well as recent lock-downs, to realise how quickly the situation can escalate,” he added.
Meanwhile over in India, where ANZ has a long history, people are continuing to struggle as cases of COVID-19 surge.
“Despite the circumstances, our team in India are working hard to do their best for our customers and their determination has been inspiring,” he told the market.
Last week, ANZ announced a $1 million donation to World Vision’s India COVID-19 appeal and a further $1 million to match customer and staff donations.
“We are continuing to do all we can to support our people and their families through this difficult time,” Shayne concluded.
On the market this morning, ANZ is in the grey and trading at $28.83 per share at 10:00 am AEST.
