Australian Share Tips 29 April 2010

Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) is Australia’s third largest bank by market capitalisation, dealing with retail, commercial, institutional and wealth management in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

ANZ reported its 1H10 results today in Australian news. Cash profit came in at $2.38 billion, which was above analyst expectations of a $2.29 billion cash profit.

The result was driven by a significant reduction in bad debt charges, which were 23% lower from a year ago, and an 8% on-year increase in net interest income.

ANZ recorded the strongest profit gains in its Australian business, whilst the 26% on-year fall in Asia Pacific, Europe and America was attributed to adverse currency movements and a fall in trading income.

An interim dividend of 52 cents was declared, which was slightly below the 55 cents expected by analysts.

ANZ maintained a cautious outlook, and sighted Greece’s fiscal issues as a key threat to its funding costs given that ANZ still needs to raise another 30% in wholesale funding to meets its FY10 target.

Australian stock price for ANZ reached a recent high of $26.23 two weeks before the results release. ANZ last closed at $24.20.

No related posts.