Last week ANZ Bank has announced a profit of A$4.8 billion (K10.9 billion) for the nine months to June 30, up 11% from the same period last year.
It is on track for a A$6.4 billion (K14.6 billion) profit for the year, up from A$6.01 billion profit last year.
Commenting on ANZ’s performance, chief executive Mike Smith said: “During the year, we have continued to make steady progress with our super regional strategy.
“We have achieved consistent revenue growth with diversification benefits from our exposure to growth markets in Australia and in Asia.
“At the same time, we are continuing to actively manage efficiency in every area of the business with a focus on improving productivity and capital utilisation.
“This is allowing us to continue to invest in our growth strategy for the longer term while also improving shareholderreturns in the near term.
“Overall, ANZ’s performance remains in line with the expectations we had at the end of 2012, with full year rev
enue growth slower than last year and ongoing productivity improvements providing positive revenue-cost jaws.
Smith said that although the economic outlook in Australia had softened somewhat, there was cause for greater optimism in the medium term as the effect of lower interest rates, a more competitive currency and the removal of some pre-election uncertainty underpin consumer confidence and economic activity.
The bank believed concerns about growth in China had been overdone, he said.
Although there was a rebalancing taking place in China and there may be volatility associated with this, ANZ needed to remember that the world’s second largest economy was still growing at around 7% to 7.5%, Smith said.
Source: Press Release, Pacific News Agency