BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Virus-plagued NAB seeks $3.5bn

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 28-Apr-20

National Australia Bank has posted a 2019-20 interim net profit of $1.3bn, compared with $2.7bn previously. Loan impairments rose to $1.2bn due to a sharp increase in provisions due to the coronavirus, while NAB has reduced its interim dividend from $0.83 per share to just $0.30. NAB shares were suspended from trading on 27 April pending a $3.5bn capital raising, which comprises a $3bn institutional placement and a $500m share purchase plan. Meanwhile, NAB is bearish about the outlook for the economy and unemployment in the near-term.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Greedy banks protect profits: ACCC

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 28-Apr-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has released the interim report of its Home Loan Price Inquiry. It has concluded that the nation’s four major banks failed to pass on the full 75 basis point reduction in the cash rate during 2019 in order to protect their profits. The ACCC also found that existing home loan customers tend to pay higher interest rates than new borrowers. Steve Mickenbecker of Canstar says it is a ‘lethargy tax’ rather than a ‘loyalty tax’, and the onus should be on existing customers to actively request a lower interest rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CANSTAR PTY LTD

PM roasts banks over Covid fail

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Apr-20

Australia’s four major banks will fast-track applications for bridging finance by companies that are struggling to pay their wages bills after Prime Minister Scott Morrison intervened. He has criticised the banks for taking too long to process such applications, with employers’ groups warning that some businesses have been forced to lay off employees while they wait to receive JobKeeper payments. tax commissioner Chris Jordan raised the issue with bank executives following a telephone conference with Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COMMONWEALTH AGRICULTURAL BUREAU INTERNATIONAL, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

CBA delays all SME repayments

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 17 : 24-Apr-20

The Council of Small Business Organisations’ deputy chairman David Gandolfo has welcomed the Commonwealth Bank’s decision to defer loan repayments for many small business customers until the end of June. The loan deferral will automatically apply to small business accounts that have lending limits of less than $5m, although these customers can opt to continue making repayments. Business customers with loans of between $5m and $10m will be able to defer repayments for six months due to the impact of the pandemic.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

NAB reveals $1.4bn writedowns

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 16 : 21-Apr-20

National Australia Bank has advised that its cash profit for the six months to 31 March will be marred by writedowns totalling $1.14bn. This includes a $188m provision for customer remediation and an impairment charge of $742m associated with its software capitalisation policy. Westpac recently warned that its half-year results will include some $1.43bn worth of write-downs. Meanwhile, analysts expect the major banks’ loan losses and dividend payouts to be a key focus for investors when their interim results are released.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Westpac flags $1.4b first-half hit, expects more to come

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 15-Apr-20

Westpac has advised that its financial accounts for the first half of fiscal 2020 will include provisions of $1,030m associated with Austrac’s money-laundering probe. Westpac will also increase its provisions for customer remediation and legal costs by $260m. The financial hit will reduce Westpac’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio by about 30 basis points, to 10.5 per cent. Dermot Ryan of AMP Capital expects Australian banks that report their half-year results in May to slash their dividend payouts.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

Bank shareholders face $7bn hit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 9-Apr-20

Shares in Australia’s major banks retreated on 8 April, after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority asked them to consider delaying or reducing their dividend payments due to the coronavirus crisis. The Bank of Queensland has already advised that it will defer its interim dividend, while investors in Westpac, National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank were slated to receive a combined $7bn worth of dividends in May. Commonwealth Bank shareholders recently received their interim dividends.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Westpac chief Peter King eyes fast restart

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 3-Apr-20

Westpac has appointed Peter King as CEO for the next two years. King, who has been acting CEO since September, says 22,000 of Westpac’s 33,000 employees are now working from home in response to the coronavirus; typically it is around 1,000. Westpac has had 100,000 requests for assistance from customers and 26,000 requests for help from small businesses since the banking sector launched its response to the virus. King says Westpac will looking at businesses that can recover quickly once the worst of COVID-19 is over in terms of the ones it decides to assist.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

‘We’re bloody lucky we’ve got them’: from pariahs to saviours

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 7 : 31-Mar-20

Australia’s major banks have received 170,000 requests from households and businesses to defer loan repayments due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, bank CEOs warn that despite being well-capitalised, the sector will need to be very selective with regard to the businesses that it chooses to assist, and those that are already failing cannot expect to receive a financial lifeline. Reserve Bank of Australia board member Ian Harper notes that the crisis has provided banks with an opportunity to redeem themselves following the revelations of misconduct exposed by the Hayne royal commission.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Business loan relief in bailout expansion

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Mar-20

The major banks will announce on 30 March that companies with loans totalling up to $10 million will be able to defer payments for six months in order to help save jobs during the coronavirus crisis. It is understood that the federal government will expand its 50 per cent loan guarantee for to small and medium enterprises to big business, while the Australian Banking Association will build on its previously announced small business support package with additional assistance measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION