ANZ banks dividend

We’ll roll with the times: Elliott

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott wants the banking industry to step up and show its true worth during tough times.

His comments came as ANZ posted a higher, unaudited third quarter cash profit of $1.56bn and declared an interim dividend of 25c per share.

The cash profit compared to a first half quarterly average of $707m. ANZ said unaudited statutory profit for the quarter was $1.33bn.

ANZ’s decision to pay a dividend, after deferring a decision in April, comes after Westpac on Tuesday axed a payout because of an uncertain outlook. ANZ’s interim dividend represents 46 per cent of statutory first-half profit, after regulators imposed a 50 per cent limit on bank payouts.

Mr Elliott said an increase in provisions for bad debts meant ANZ was “prepared”.

“We’re in reasonably good shape. That does not mean it will be easy, but I’m feeling really confident about our ability to flex and change and roll with the times,” he said.

“But the trading environment’s clearly going to be difficult. That’s OK, that’s what banks are for, to see customers through difficult times.

“In many ways this is our moment. This is our moment to actually show our true worth to the broader community, to the economy, to our customers in particular”.

Mr Elliott said the bank had grown home loans well above the rest of the market in the quarter. “We are also pleased with the strong deposit growth, demonstrating customers are taking a prudent approach to shoring up their personal finances,” Mr Elliott said.

ANZ said it has 84,000 deferrals in place for home loan accounts at July 31 valued at $31bn, representing 9 per cent of Australian home-loan accounts.

ANZ shares closed up 61c at $18.68 while the ASX 200 rallied 44.2 points to 6167.6 points.