Please note that as of August 2012, The Bank Investor site is no longer being updated. Australia and New Zealand's best analysis of the banking and finance industry can be found at Banking Day.
Articles by John Kavanagh
John Kavanagh is the founding editor of The Bank Investor.
What the analysts are saying: deposits drying up
One of the few positives for banks over the past year has been the relatively high rate of deposit growth. Business and household deposit rates have grown ahead of lending rates, helping banks move towards their Basel III stable funding ratio and liquidity targets. However, a joint study by ... MoreAnalysts rate Westpac a buy
Sell-side analysts believe Westpac stock has been over-sold in response to the bank's disappointing December quarter performance. Reports from JP Morgan, UBS and Macquarie Securities all argue Westpac will not repeat this performance and is now cheap relative to its peers. Each of the three now ... MoreBendigo and Adelaide Bank results soft and outlook for continuing weakness 
With a lacklustre, but well telegraphed, half-yearly profit to announce last week, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's chief executive, Mike Hirst, used the regular briefing to reflect on some of the key debates in banking - and to explain why the bank lifted home-loan interest rates by more than any ... More
Published on Monday, 27 February, 2012
Filed under Bendigo and Adelaide, analysts
Suncorp Bank has funding under control
One bank with few worries over conditions in the wholesale financial markets is Suncorp Bank. It has a deposit-to-loan ratio of 69.4 per cent – all its lending is matched by retail deposit flows and its requirement for term funding this year will be just A$2 billion.
Suncorp reported last week ... More
Published on Monday, 27 February, 2012
Filed under Suncorp
Mortgage Choice struggles with diversification
Loan broker franchise operator Mortgage Choice has suffered a setback in its strategy of diversifying its business. A sharp increase in expenses related to new initiatives and marketing was not matched by increased revenue in the December 2011 half year.
Last week, the company reported a cash net ... More
Published on Monday, 27 February, 2012
Filed under small institutions, brokers
CBA take control of its loan pricing
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev confirmed that prior to the bank's decision to raise home loan interest rates it was writing mortgages at a loss. Narev said the bank's move this month to increase variable home-loan rates by 10 basis points will only recover part of the cost increase ... More
Published on Monday, 20 February, 2012
Filed under CBA, results, outlook, home lending, funding
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly says the bank is targeting revenue growth and cost savings
Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has rejected the suggestion that the bank's aggressive productivity program had "trimmed its revenue muscle".
Kelly briefed analysts on the bank's December quarter performance last week, and its low income growth emerged as a concern.
Operating income was flat, ... More
ANZ's earnings grew in the December quarter
ANZ missed its target of funding all lending growth through deposit growth in the December 2011 quarter because of a strong pick up in institutional lending. Group loan growth in the quarter was up by 2.5 per cent, while deposits grew by only 2.2 per cent. ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said: ... MoreNAB's interest margin falls under pressure of higher funding costs
National Australia Bank paid 70 basis points more for term funding during the December quarter than its average cost of term funding. NAB's chief financial officer, Mark Joiner, said the bank issued A$7 billion of wholesale term funding during the quarter, of which $4 billion was in covered ... MoreMacquarie Group's new business model promises more secure but slower growth
Macquarie Group's business lending and leasing division, Corporate and Asset Finance, will be one of only two of the group's six divisions to report an increased profit contribution when Macquarie reports its results for the year ending March 31.
Over the past few years lending and leasing has ... More
Published on Monday, 13 February, 2012
Filed under Macquarie Group
Credit Suisse has initiated analyst coverage of FlexiGroup with an Outperform rating
Credit Suisse has initiated analyst coverage of finance company FlexiGroup, rating the stock an Outperform and forecasting a 13 per cent share price increase for the company in the year ahead.
FlexiGroup sells consumer and business-to-business leases, vendor finance packages, interest-free ... More
Published on Monday, 13 February, 2012
Filed under small institutions
Debt collector Credit Corp produces a strong result
Listed debt collector Credit Corp has maintained last year's strong earnings momentum with a 23 per cent increase in net profit for the first half of the 2011/12 financial year.
Credit Corp last week reported a net profit of A$13 million for the six months to December – up 23 per cent on the ... More
Published on Monday, 6 February, 2012
Filed under Credit Corp
