The ratings on Westpac Banking Corp. (Westpac) reflect the bank's diversified and robust revenue streams, solid cost containment, reduced risk profile following a rebalancing of its portfolio via the sale of the higher risk Australian Guarantee Corp. (AGC) business, and good asset quality compared with global peers'. The bank's strong franchise in its core markets of Australia and New Zealand, together with its solid financial profile, is positively reflected in the rating. Westpac's financial performance continues to benefit from the sector-wide strong domestic growth in housing lending, and a much-improved second-half performance from Westpac New Zealand. Negatively impacting the result were four significant one-off items totaling A$513 million post tax (which partially offset the A$754 million profit on the sale
