Bulletin: ANZ's Strong Capital, Low Credit Losses Offset Testing Operating Conditions

MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 31, 2019--Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.'s (ANZ) creditworthiness remains strong by global comparison, in S&P Global Ratings' view, despite difficult operating conditions, underscored by a 7% drop in the bank's net statutory profit for fiscal 2019 (ended Sept. 30, 2019) announced by the bank today. Reduced earnings due to low interest rates, subdued credit growth, and customer remediation costs (about A$0.7 billion post-tax costs for fiscal 2019 compared with a net profit of A$5.9 billion) have been broadly in line with our expectations. Nevertheless, the bank's earnings continue to afford a good buffer for an unforeseen rise in credit losses, in our opinion. In addition, we consider that the bank's earnings metrics remain

...October 30, 2019 MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 31, 2019--Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.'s (ANZ) creditworthiness remains strong by global comparison, in S&P Global Ratings' view, despite difficult operating conditions, underscored by a 7% drop in the bank's net statutory profit for fiscal 2019 (ended Sept. 30, 2019) announced by the bank today. Reduced earnings due to low interest rates, subdued credit growth, and customer remediation costs (about A$0.7 billion post-tax costs for fiscal 2019 compared with a net profit of A$5.9 billion) have been broadly in line with our expectations. Nevertheless, the bank's earnings continue to afford a good buffer for an unforeseen rise in credit losses, in our opinion. In addition, we consider that the bank's earnings metrics remain solid, given that alternative investment opportunities are also yielding lower returns by historical comparison. We expect that ANZ's capital levels will remain strong and credit losses at low levels,...

Bulletin