MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) May 3, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ: AA/Stable/A-1+) are unchanged following ANZ's announcement of its results for the first-half ended March 31, 2011. "ANZ recorded a strong half year result, performing well against key rating factors," Standard&Poor's credit analyst Gavin Gunning said. "Underlying profitability and asset quality improved incrementally from their already-strong position, by international standards," Mr. Gunning added. While funding is seen by Standard&Poor's as a relative weaknesses for ANZ and other major Australian banks at their current rating levels, Standard&Poor's notes ANZ's results indicate that incremental funding improvements had also been achieved. Reliance on
