The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said Thursday its interim net profit rose 16 percent to an all-time high, leaving it well positioned for the rest of the year. Australia's third largest bank said net profit for the six months to March was 2.1 billion dollars (1.75 billion US) on the back of strong lending.
"All in all, this is a good result," ANZ chief executive John McFarlane said. "It sets us up well for the year as a whole and positions us well for the years ahead." He said ANZ - which late last year bought nearly a fifth of China's biggest rural commercial lender Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) - would continue to expand its Asian business with franchises in Malaysia, China, Guam and Laos.
"Looking ahead, the growth we are now seeing from Asia will become more material to the group," McFarlane said. He said the bank viewed its Asian expansion as a long-term investment that was unlikely to provide substantial returns until 2010.
But he said ANZ would reap the benefit after it "planted a lot of seeds in Asia" as the only Australian commercial bank with a major expansion program in the region. "Others are starting, but I would emphasise this is a very long journey, and it takes an awful lot to make a difference here," he said. "It will take others quite a long time if they have any aspiration to replicate what we have in Asia."
McFarlane said cash net profit, which excludes one-off items, was up 11.8 percent at 1.94 billion dollars, slightly exceeding market expectations. The major one-off item was the sale of the vehicle fleet leasing business FleetPartners for 141 million dollars.
McFarlane said the bank maintained its full-year guidance of 7-10 percent revenue growth and 5.0-7.0 percent cost growth. McFarlane said ANZ recorded 20.1 percent profit growth on personal loans in the interim period, with revenue up 14.4 percent.