The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
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Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst
: So 2 questions from me as well, if possible. First one on expenses. Michael, you talked a little bit about expenses already. But I just want to understand
when we think about expenses in 2021, do you think we should be looking at your second half '20 as a starting point, the 2 halves '20, excluding
notable items and sort of annualize that number as kind of the starting point for expense in 2021? Or a full year and some growth on -- as you
suggested, on a full year basis, is a more reasonable starting point? And then I have a question on credit quality as well.
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NOVEMBER 01, 2020 / 11:00PM, WBC.AX - Full Year 2020 Westpac Banking Corp Earnings Presentation
Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst
: Right. So if we look at second half -- sorry? So I was going to say, if we look at second half '20 expenses, you're saying that some of it, at least some
of it should enroll through into first half '21.
Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst
: Right. And the second question on credit quality. So if I look at your economic assumptions that you've made in March relative to September,
obviously, the September forecast was significantly better, yet we've seen collective provision increase from first half to second half. I'd be just
interested to understand sort of the key drivers around that. And as we go into 2021, what do you think is going to drive CP changes going into
next year?
And kind of more broadly as well, maybe, Peter, you can touch on as well. I mean everyone is focusing on those deferrals as a guide for where credit
quality is going to go and where impairment charges are. But do you think we need to be looking kind of more broadly than just deferral programs?
And whether you have any observation in terms of the rest of your portfolio, how it's performing outside of the deferral programs, what proportion
of customers are on JobKeepers and things like that would be highly useful.
Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst
: Do you see a scenario where your collective provisions are lower next year relative to where they are now?
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