BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Westpac warns of hit to bottom line

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Original article by Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-Feb-20

Westpac has used a market update for the first quarter of 2019-20 to advise that its earnings for the financial year will be affected by factors such as the Austrac scandal, storms and the bushfires crisis. Citigroup has responded by downgrading its half-year earnings per share forecast by seven per cent, while its forecast for the full year has been reduced by five per cent. Westpac could face fines of up to $2bn for breaching anti-money laundering laws, while it is the subject of two class actions over the scandal.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

NAB may delay MLC split after sound result

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 23 : 14-Feb-20

A trading update from National Australia Bank shows that it booked a cash profit of $1.65bn for the first quarter of its financial year. This is one per cent higher than the quarterly average for the second half of fiscal 2019. Revenue increased by less than one per cent for the quarter, while expenses were three per cent higher. Meanwhile, NAB has signalled that the proposed demerger of its MLC wealth management could be postponed due to the challenging business conditions at present.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED

CBA to grab bigger share of business

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 13-Feb-20

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has posted a 2019-20 interim cash profit of $4.47bn; this is 4.3 per cent lower than previously, although analysts had expected a larger decline. CEO Matt Comyn notes that CBA recorded growth in home lending, business lending and deposits during the half-year, and he has flagged plans to seek an even greater share of the business lending market. Comyn adds that CBA’s investment in digital banking has enabled it to build market share among younger customers; this is also a segment that it will target for further growth.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Westpac lifeline for virus-plagued customers

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Feb-20

Westpac has revealed details of its support package for businesses that have been impacted by the coronavirus. Amongst other things, it will allow business loan repayments to be deferred for up to three months, while businesses will also be able to extend their loans for up to three months. Westpac offered similar relief to bushfire victims. Businesses across the economy have been impacted by the virus outbreak, including tourism operators and fresh food exporters.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

When it comes to compensation payouts, NAB’s $204m leads the pack

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Feb-20

Data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission shows that National Australia Bank customers have now received $203.8m in compensation for poor financial advice and services that were not provided. The Commonwealth Bank in turn has paid out $174.2m, ahead of AMP ($167.2m), Westpac ($106.4m), the ANZ Bank ($95.6m) and Macquarie Group ($2.6m).

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

CBA under pressure to deliver perfect result

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Original article by James Frost, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Feb-20

The consensus of analysts polled by Bloomberg is for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to post a 2019-20 interim cash profit of $4.34bn. This compares with $4.68bn for the first half of 2018-19. The bank’s share price has gained 10 per cent in the last three months, leaving the stock vulnerable to a pullback if investors are disappointed by the interim result. Most analysts do not expect CBA to announce a special dividend or a share buyback.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BLOOMBERG LP

Home loan customers reward ME Bank with highest satisfaction rating

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jan-20

New Roy Morgan banking data shows that ME Bank has the leading satisfaction rating (91.4%) among home loan customers. ING remains in top position among non-home loan customers with a rating of 89.8%. Among home loan customers, ME Bank is followed by ING (89.3%), Bendigo Bank (83.3%) and Bankwest (77.1%). For non-home loan customers, leader ING is followed by Bendigo Bank (87.8%), ME Bank (83.5%) and Suncorp (81.0%). The institution with the largest discrepancy between home loan and non-home loan customer satisfaction is Suncorp, where the satisfaction rating among home loan customers (72.6%) is more than 8 percentage points below its rating among non-home loan customers (81.0%). The ratings are taken from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, compiled by in-depth face-to-face interviews with around 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ME BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, BANKWEST, SUNCORP BANK

Bank bashing hurts economy

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 24-Jan-20

Former ANZ Bank CEO John McFarlane will succeed Lindsay Maxsted as Westpac’s chairman on 2 April. McFarlane has warned that continued criticism of the banking sector and policies such as the bank levy will affect the industry’s returns and ultimately impact on the economy via lower government revenue. His appointment follows Westpac’s alleged large-scale breach of anti-money laundering laws, which led to the departure of Maxsted and CEO Brian Hartzer.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Veteran banker to chair Westpac

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Original article by John Durie, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 23-Jan-20

Former ANZ Bank CEO John McFarlane is set to succeed Lindsay Maxsted as Westpac’s chairman. Maxsted will step down ahead of schedule in response to the bank’s breach of anti-money laundering laws. Sources have indicated that McFarlane was chosen due to factors such as his knowledge of the retail banking sector, his reputation as a ‘change agent’ and the fact that he has no prior links to Westpac. The major bank has yet to appoint a permanent successor to former CEO Brian Hartzer.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

NAB hit with class action on super rip-off

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Original article by Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 17 : 22-Jan-20

A class action lawsuit will contend that National Australia Bank’s superannuation customers incurred substantial losses due to the bank’s tardiness in shifting them to a MySuper product. Law firm Maurice Blackburn will argue that NAB subsidiaries MLC Nominees and NULIS Nominees breached their duties as superannuation trustees by keeping customers in funds that had higher fees than MySuper products. The allegations were first raised before the Hayne royal commission in 2018.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, MLC NOMINEES, NULIS NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY