ANZ insists it’s in a good position as result disappoints

after it reported flat revenue and a lower net interest margin from a six-month period in which it bolstered its balance sheet, cut expenses and improved credit quality.

Chief executive Shayne Elliott said the conservative approach left the bank wellplaced for the headwinds coming from further regulatory intervention in the home loan market.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has already limited higher-risk interest-only loans to 30 per cent of new residential lending and, with household debt still rising because of sluggish wage growth, Mr Elliott said more intervention was on the way.

“It’s clear the regulator will continue to act until growth slows,” he said.

“We’re a little bit smaller and we may be able to grow in that environment but there is going to be a slowdown.”

Mr Elliott said he expected ANZ to finesse its mortgage pricing to more accurately reflect risk, perhaps by taking into account loan-to-valuation ratios.

He said growth for ANZ would come from its focus on digitisation and meeting customers’ needs through innovation.

Its status as the only big four bank to offer ApplePay had attracted new customers.

ANZ’s cash profit – a measure of underlying earnings – for the six months to March was 23 per cent higher than the writedown-heavy $2.8 billion a year earlier but missed the $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion predicted by analysts.

ANZ’s interim dividend was unchanged at 80¢.

Its shares closed 2.1 per cent lower at $32.25.