BANKS AND BANKING – AUSTRALIA

Banks blasted for holding back on cuts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 3-Oct-19

Westpac has reduced its mortgage interest rates by 15 basis points in response to the latest official interest rate cut, while the ANZ Bank has cut its rates by 14 basis points. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have criticised the four major banks for failing to reduce their mortgage rates in line with the 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate. Meanwhile, analysts warn that the banks’ margins will come under pressure due to official interest rate cuts.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SUNCORP BANK, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, ATHENA HOME LOANS PTY LTD, RATECITY PTY LTD

Billion dollar hit for NAB after ASIC action

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 3-Oct-19

National Australia Bank has advised that its cash earnings for the second half of 2018-19 will fall by about $1.23bn, while its full-year net profit will fall by $1.18bn. This has been attributed to an additional after-tax charge of $832m for its customer remediation program, as well as a change to its software capitalisation policy. NAB’s total provisions for customer remediation in the wake of the fees-for-no-service scandal has now topped $2bn. NAB will release its full-year results on 7 November.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Savings rate hit as banks brace for interest pain

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 26-Sep-19

Data from RateCity shows that ANZ, Westpac and ING are among the banks that have reduced their savings rates by up to 25 basis points in the last fortnight. RateCity also notes that the average savings rate is now 1.1 per cent; this compares with 1.57 per cent in May, prior to the Reserve Bank’s back-to-back official interest rate cuts. With the central bank widely tipped to ease monetary policy again in October, Credit Suisse estimates that banks’ at-call deposit rates would have to fall by about 51 basis points to offset the earnings impact of passing the full cash rate cut on to mortgage borrowers.

CORPORATES
RATECITY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AMP BANK LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MYSTATE LIMITED – ASX MYS, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

CBA cut heats up home loan war

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 25-Sep-19

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia will reduce its interest rates on a range of mortgage loans for owner-occupiers and property investors. The rate cuts range from 10 basis points to 90 basis points, and apply to loan periods ranging from one to five years. Mortgage brokers say the move suggests that CBA expects the Reserve Bank to further ease monetary policy. Westpac recently announced a reduction in its mortgage loan serviceability floor.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Westpac dividend under pressure

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Sep-19

There is growing speculation that Westpac could reduce its dividend payout in response to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s new capital requirements. Westpac has yet to determine the size of its final dividend for 2018-19, but Credit Suisse has forecast both a lower payout and a capital raising of at least $1.5bn when Westpac releases its full-year results in early November. The prospect of further official interest rate cuts in Australia is also weighing on the earnings of the nation’s banks.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, EVANS AND PARTNERS ASIA FUND – ASX EAF, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PM CAPITAL LIMITED

Westpac gives itself 12 months to replace CFO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 13-Sep-19

Westpac announced on 12 September that chief financial officer Peter King will retire in 2020, with King having joined Westpac from Deloitte in 1994. King became deputy CFO in 2011 and CFO in 2014, replacing Phil Coffey. King says that Westpac has transformed itself in the time that he has been there, while UBS banking analyst Jonathan Mott said that whomever Westpac chooses to replace King "will have some big boots to fill". Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer thanked King for his significant contribution to the company.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Brokers lift share of housing pie as bank branches lose business

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 4-Sep-19

Data from UBS shows that Australia’s major banks account for 79 per cent of existing mortgage loans. However, Jon Mott of UBS says their share of new home loans is likely to keep falling as the trend toward alternatives such as mortgage brokers gathers pace. UBS also notes that the proportion of home loans that are sold via bank branches has fallen from 48 per cent in fiscal 2013 to just 37 per cent. Mott notes that the major banks’ aggressive push to close bank branches in recent years has contributed to the growing use of mortgage brokers.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Macquarie’s $1.6bn capital raise

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 29-Aug-19

Macquarie Group has advised that its profit for the six months to 30 September will be about 10 per cent higher than the $1.3bn result for the same period in 2018. Macquarie posted a record profit of $2.98bn for the year to 31 March, and Jonathan Mott of UBS has forecast a profit of $3.04bn for fiscal 2020. Meanwhile, Macquarie is seeking to raise $1bn from institutional investors and up to $600m from retail investors via a share purchase plan. Most of the proceeds will be invested in assets such renewable energy, technology and infrastructure.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CADENCE CAPITAL LIMITED – ASX CDT, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

NPS of banks (and big four banks) continues to improve after Finance Royal Commission

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Aug-19

New results from Roy Morgan show that the Net Promoter Score levels of Australia’s banks, including the big four banks, have increased significantly since the final report of the Finance Royal Commission was handed down in February 2019. The NPS of the big four banks was 2.1 in July, up 3.7pts since February, and the NPS of banks as a whole was 8.5, up 3.2pts over the last five months. The improvement in NPS scores has returned the measure to a level comparable to that at the time the Finance Royal Commission was established in late 2017. All of the big four banks have improved their NPS since February. The leading big four bank by NPS is the CBA (now on 7.2, up 3.3pts since February). The other three, although improved, were still in negative territory. Teachers Mutual Bank now has the highest NPS of 52.6, up 13.5pts since February. Meanwhile, satisfaction with the big four banks reached 76.1% in July, up by 0.8% points since February, led by increases for the CBA (+1% point), ANZ (+0.9% points) and Westpac (+2.3% points). These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘Customer Satisfaction report on Consumer Banking in Australia’ and the ‘Financial Institutions Advocacy Report’. These reports are based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BENDIGO BANK, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Savers at risk in bank, credit union data hack

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Aug-19

The security of the New Payments Platform is under scrutiny in the wake of revelations that the system has been subject to a second data breach. Cuscal has indicated that only about three per cent of bank and credit union customers who have registered for a PayID have been affected by the breach, which equates to less than 92,000 customers. Westpac customers who use the real-time NPP system were affected by a data breach in June.

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