Westpac touts ‘solid’ year as profits near $7b
Westpac made a full-year net profit of $6.9 billion, a slight increase on the previous year’s result.
The big four banks on Monday said net interest margin, a key measure that contributes to lender profitability, fell slightly for the year due to ongoing competition in loans and deposits.
Westpac’s loan book increased by six per cent to $851.9 billion and customer deposits increased by seven per cent to $723 billion.
The bank had a market share of 21 percent of Australian household deposits and mortgages and 16 percent of Australian business loans.
Operating expenses rose nine per cent to $11.9 billion, reflecting salary and wage increases and the cost of rolling out the Unite program to simplify banking systems.
“This has been a solid year for Westpac and I am pleased with our result today,” said CEO Anthony Miller.
“With a very strong balance sheet and momentum in our target segments, the opportunity to deliver more to our customers, employees and shareholders is exciting.”
Mr Miller said he was pleased with Westpac’s growth in deposits and loans and the 22 per cent growth in its agribusiness portfolio, which came mostly from existing customers.
“This reflects our focus and investment in regional Australia,” he said.
Westpac has opened a service center in the NSW town of Moree, with the addition of more locations.
The bank announced it will pay shareholders a final ordinary dividend of 77 cents per share, taking its total dividend for the 2024/25 financial year to $1.53 per share, an increase of one per cent on the previous year.
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