(Reuters) -Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd on Thursday reported a 5% rise in full-year cash profit as its home loans business improved and higher interest rates boosted margins in the second half.
The country’s fourth-largest bank has been overhauling its home loan processing capabilities after failing to cash in on a COVID-driven housing boom because of delays in processing applications.
Chief Executive Shayne Elliott said home loan application times were back in line with its industry peers.
Group net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, grew 10 basis points from the first half to 1.68% in the second half of the year.
Runaway inflation has pushed the Australian central bank to pursue its most aggressive tightening cycle in decades, boosting margins for banks that had grappled with record-low interest rates for the past two years.
ANZ’s cash profit from continuing operations was A$6.52 billion ($4.23 billion) for the financial year, beating a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$6.31 billion.
($1 = 1.5406 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
