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Westpac revamps senior management and structure 
The speculation was immediate and universal: Brian Hartzer, the incoming chief executive for Australian Financial Services division at Westpac, can expect to be the next managing director of the bank - and sooner rather than later.
But will he be? Probably, though the issue of CEO succession at ... More
NAB's European credit exposure increases
National Australia Bank has ramped up its involvement with Europe's beleaguered banking system, despite rising concerns that leading French and German banks will need to recapitalise ahead of another wave of expected losses on their frazzled assets in southern Europe.
In the six months to the end ... More
Fund manager view: branches need to be more productive
Perpetual portfolio manager Vince Pezzullo says the major banks need to make significant inroads into their costs. Pezzullo is a member of the Australian equity team at Perpetual and has oversight of financial institutions, and his view is that consumer and corporate de-leveraging is a multi-year ... More
By John Kavanagh
Published on Monday, 28 November, 2011
Filed under ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac, costs
Low growth for 2012 mortgage market
A consensus emerged over the past week as to the prospects for the home loan market in 2012. Both Deloitte and Genworth Financial released their mortgage market outlook reports, based on extensive surveys of industry participants. The common view is that the low-growth conditions of 2011 will ... More
Thorn Group's strong earnings growth catches analyst's eye
Thorn Group has reported revenue growth of 20 per cent for the six months to September and a 30 per cent increase in net profit. The result, announced last week, was boosted by the addition of earnings from National Credit Management Ltd, which was acquired in March.
Net profit for the half was ... More
CUBS struggle to achieve growth
Merger activity continued in the credit union and building society sector in 200, as institutions looked for cost efficencies and other benfits that size offers. Despite the ongoing consolidation, the atest research suggest that the sector is still strugging to increase earnings, control costs and ... More
Covered bond pricing and the funding dilemma
After a long build-up, two major Australian banks sold their first covered bond issues last week. Both ANZ, which entered the market on Tuesday night, and Westpac, which followed on Thursday night, chose the US bond market to make their debuts.
CBA and National Australia Bank, which have also ... More
What the analysts are saying: CBA out of favour
Banking sector analysts took a stick to Commonwealth Bank last week, after reviewing its September quarter earnings update. While only one investment bank, Citi, downgraded CBA to a "Sell", most analysts cut their earnings forecasts for the bank. Analysts did not like the fact that Commonwealth's ... MoreSystemic lending challenge for CBA
Commonwealth Bank will continue to aim for lending growth in line with system growth, a goal likely to reinforce the reversal in interest margins that was a feature of its trading update for the September 2011 quarter published last week.
The bank on last week reported cash earnings of A$1.75 ... More
Regionals struggle to produce sustainable return on equity
The build-up in capital adequacy by Australian banks in anticipation of new regulatory requirements is having a much bigger impact on the returns of regional banks than on the majors.
A KPMG study of the financial performance of regional banks over the past year, released last week, shows a ... More
By John Kavanagh
Published on Monday, 21 November, 2011
Filed under BoQ, Bendigo & Adelaide, Suncorp
