Westpac to pay more

WESTPAC’S annual earnings will fall by about $235 million as it pays out more customers it over-charged.

In a statement released after the market closed yesterday, it said it had “increased provisions for customer refunds associated with certain advice fees” charged by its financial planners.

About two-thirds of the impact is expected to be negative revenue while the remainder will be recorded in costs.

Westpac says costs associated with responding to the ongoing royal commission were not included in these amounts.

The bank’s chief executive Brian Haryzer said it was “disappointing” some of Westpac’s past practices had not lived up to “appropriate standards”. Earlier this month, the lender agreed to pay a record $35 million fine for wrongly approving thousands of mortgages.