Australia’s fourth largest lender ANZ Banking Group Ltd has reiterated that it is not interested in selling ING to AMP Ltd, saying it’s focusing on organic growth.

ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said rumours the bank would sell ING to AMP in return for 30 per cent of the wealth manager were false.

Mr Smith said ANZ was focusing on growing its wealth management organically and was not considering any takeovers at the moment.

“That’s exactly what I’d call it - speculation,” Mr Smith told ABC television on Sunday.
Full Story

The ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ING Direct have been named as finalists for the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia’s (MFAA) prestigious Lender of the Year Award, in the 2010 MFAA Excellence Awards.

The annual Award - to be announced at the MFAA Excellence Award’s night-of-nights on 12 March - is one of the industry’s most sought after honours.

To reflect the importance the MFAA places on monitoring lenders’ service performance in relation to the broker channel, MFAA accredited members were invited to vote online for the Lender of the Year in January 2010.

To ensure this is simply not a ‘popularity vote’, each lender was ranked against a set of seven criteria by all eligible voters. The top three scoring lenders became the finalists, and the overall top scoring Lender, the winner, will be announced at the Excellence Awards Dinner at the Westin in Sydney on Friday 12 March 2010.
Full Story

Agribusiness AWB Ltd has sold its Landmark Financial Services loan and deposit books to the ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ).AWB said on Tuesday the sale of the $2.4 billion loan book and $300 million deposit book would release about $155 million in cash to AWB with the potential for an extra $13 million over time.

Landmark Financial Services, which is part of AWB’s Landmark rural services business, provides financial services to about 10,000 customers.

AWB said Landmark’s insurance business was not affected.

AWB managing director Gordon Davis said on Tuesday the sale of the loan and deposit books would streamline AWB’s debt profile and meet the group’s objective of having a simpler, low-risk business.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group chief executive Mike Smith had a 16 per cent pay cut in fiscal 2009 to $10.9 million, but the bank says he actually received half that amount.

The bank’s annual report released on Monday shows Mr Smith’s total remuneration for the 12 months to September 30 was valued at $10.935 million, down from $12.963 million in the previous year.

The sum included a rise in short term incentives (STIs) to $4.5 million, up from a $2.4 million STI payment in the previous year.

“The CEO’s STI payment for the 2009 year has been determined having regard to both the company’s underlying profit for the current year as well as the significant progress achieved in relation to ANZ’s long-term strategic goals,” the report said.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd has matched the central bank, increasing its standard variable mortgage interest rate by 25 basis points.

The bank’s standard variable home loan rate will rise to 6.31 per cent as of Monday November 9, from 6.06 per cent, Melbourne-based ANZ said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increased the overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.50 per cent on Tuesday - the second increase in the space of a month.

ANZ also said it was raising interest rates on a range of deposit products by 35 basis points.

Spokespersons from the other three major banks, National Australia Bank Ltd, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd and Westpac Banking Corporation said their interest rates were under review.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd is pursuing chief executive Mike Smith’s Asia-Pacific super-regional bank strategy by opening its first rural branch in western China.

The move is the first by an Australian bank and one of the first by any non-Chinese bank, Melbourne-based ANZ said in a statement on Monday.

ANZ opened its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chongqing Liangping ANZ Rural Bank Co Ltd, and is working toward obtaining Chinese incorporation in early 2010, which would enable it to provide a broad range of services to local customers and expand its branch network.

That would help cement ANZ’s position as generating the highest revenue from Asia of all Australian banks.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd has agreed to buy some of Royal Bank of Scotland Plc’s Asian businesses for about $US550 million (or $687 million), as it pursues its strategy to become a super regional bank.

ANZ will buy the retail, wealth management and commercial businesses in Taiwan Singapore, Indonesia and HongKong, as well as RBS’s institutional banking businesses in Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The businesses are expected to add to earnings per share within two years of completing their takeover, Melbourne-based ANZ said in a statement on Tuesday.

ANZ said it expected to complete the takeovers progressively from late 2009, depending on gaining regulatory approval in each market.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group has appointed Warren Hogan as acting chief economist following a decision by Saul Eslake to leave the bank.

Mr Hogan is currently head of Australian economics and interest rate research at ANZ. He will act in the role until a permanent replacement for Mr Eslake is identified, the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I am very pleased to have Warren act as Chief Economist until we make a permanent appointment,” ANZ CEO Mike Smith said in a statement.

“He has extensive experience as an economist particularly in Global Markets and is supported by an outstanding economics team at ANZ.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd says John Morschel will replace Charles Goode as the bank’s chairman, effective from next February.

The bank said the appointment followed Sir Rod Eddington’s withdrawal of his offer to join the board and to take up the chairmanship following Mr Goode’s retirement.

ANZ announced the Eddington appointment last November.

“We respect (Sir Rod’s) decision,” Mr Goode said in a statement.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd will raise $2.85 billion by selling new shares to equity holders to bolster its cash holdings as it bids for some of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Asian assets.

ANZ, the Australian bank with the biggest Asian presence, also warned in a statement on Wednesday that its provisions for bad debts may be up to 20 per cent higher in the second half than in the first half.

The bank will raise $2.5 billion in a fully underwritten institutional placement, and is planning a share purchse plan for retail investors to raise another $350 million.

ANZ will offer the shares to institutions at $14.40, a 7.5 per cent discount on the stock’s closing price of $15.57 on May 26.

The shares went into a trading halt before the market opened on Wednesday to allow the placement to proceed.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group has raised $19 billion of its wholesale term funding requirements in fiscal 2009, after raising $1 billion in a domestic debt issue without using the federal government’s guarantee last Tuesday.

Although yet to make a non-guaranteed issue in offshore markets, ANZ said it has maintained access to all major global funding markets and lengthened the tenure of new term debt issuance to four years.

But funding costs remain elevated, the bank said in a presentation to investors on Monday.

“Forward maturities remain very manageable,” ANZ said.
Full Story

ANZ Bank chief Mike Smith has warned mortgage holders not to fix home loan rates yet, saying interest rates may continue to fall.

Mr Smith, attending the Australian Institute of Company Directors in Brisbane on Thursday, was asked if the cash rate could go any lower than its current 49-year low of three per cent.

“Yes, I do. I think it can. I think it depends very much on what happens in the next few months,” Mr Smith said.

“The great thing that Australia has is room to move.”
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd chief executive Mike Smith says he expects the bank’s revenue to continue to rise, but has warned bad debt provisions will also increase.

“Basically revenues are likely to continue to increase but we will have an increase in provision charge so therefore one has to offset the other,” Mr Smith told ABC Television on Sunday.

Mr Smith said he expected provisions to be around $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion over the coming half years.

“We’re really saying we’ve got four halves where provisions are about the $1.4, $1.5 number billion.”
Full Story

The world’s beleaguered financial markets are slowly recovering from the doldrums of the economic downturn, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith says.

But it does not necessarily mean banks will pass on to borrowers further cuts in official interest rates, he warned.

Despite ANZ reporting a 28 per cent plunge in first-half profit on Wednesday due to bad debts and losses on derivative trades, Mr Smith said the worst was behind the financial sector.
Full Story

ANZ Banking Group Ltd has reported a sharp fall in first half profit and says tough market conditions will continue over the rest of fiscal 2009 and into fiscal 2010.

Net profit for the six months ended March 31 fell 28 per cent to $1.417 billion, from $1.963 billion in the previous corresponding half, after charges for bad debts and funding costs rose.

Cash profit, adjusted for one-off items and movements in derivatives, fell 43 per cent to $954 million.

Total credit impairment charges rose 28 per cent to $1.435 billion, from $726 million in the previous first half and was up four per cent from $1.364 million in the second half of fiscal 2008.
Full Story