Bumper Westpac profit

BANKING goliath Westpac has raked in $4.25 billion in six months despite its chief Brian Hartzer acknowledging some “inexcusable” treatment of customers revealed by the finance royal commission.

Westpac was the last of the big banks to report its half-year results, with the entire big four revealing a collective $15.2 billion profit that period.

Confronted with the details of the royal commission, in which Westpac acknowledged problems with some financial planners, Mr Hartzer said the bank needed to do better.

“The issues raised have been inexcusable, particularly when customers have been affected,” he said.

Mr Hartzer said he would not “prejudge” the outcome of the commission but predicted “changes” in the industry.

He said the bank was moving to fix problems, reviewing more than 300 products and making more than 150 changes over the past three years. He said the 5.8 per cent lift in profit for the six months was helped by raising rates on interestonly and investor mortgages.

PricewaterhouseCoopers analysts said the royal commission was showing early signs of hindering future profits for all big four banks.

While the banks raked in $15.2 billion for six months, this was down 2 per cent from last year’s figure. NAB last Thursday reported a cash profit of $2.76 billion for the half year while ANZ last Tuesday reported a $3.5 billion cash profit for the same period.