Bulletin: Australia's Westpac To Continue To Benefit From Cost Control

MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) May 9, 2022--Westpac Banking Corp.'s (Westpac) ongoing divestments and process improvements should help its cost control, S&P Global Ratings said today. Westpac (AA-/Stable/A-1+), one of the four major Australian banks, announced solid results for the six months ended March 31, 2022. Westpac's earnings should remain strong relative to international peers. The bank's success in controlling costs and process improvements has positioned it well to compete on pricing and response times. The bank's net interest margin is likely to improve on the back of rising interest rates, in our view. Westpac, along with the three other Australian major banks, has already increased its variable home lending rates by 25 basis points; this followed a similar increase in

...May 8, 2022 MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) May 9, 2022--Westpac Banking Corp.'s (Westpac) ongoing divestments and process improvements should help its cost control, S&P Global Ratings said today. Westpac (##-/Stable/A-1+), one of the four major Australian banks, announced solid results for the six months ended March 31, 2022. Westpac's earnings should remain strong relative to international peers. The bank's success in controlling costs and process improvements has positioned it well to compete on pricing and response times. The bank's net interest margin is likely to improve on the back of rising interest rates, in our view. Westpac, along with the three other Australian major banks, has already increased its variable home lending rates by 25 basis points; this followed a similar increase in the official cash rate announced last week by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Conversely, Australian banks' credit losses are also likely to increase as interest rates rise; in particular, the more...

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