ANZ Bank shares post best single-day performance since 2020 as cost-cutting measures boost results
Australia's fourth largest bank, ANZ Group, exceeded analysts’ expectations for cost-cutting in the first quarter, driving its share price to its best single-day performance since 2020.
On Thursday, ANZ reported unaudited cash profit of AUD 1.94 billion for the three months ending December last year, up 6% year-on-year.
Excluding one-off items, profit rose 17% compared to the average of the previous two quarters. CEO Nuno Matos stated that this was due to the company's productivity enhancement initiatives.
The bank cut around 4,500 employees and contract workers in the second half of fiscal 2025, incurring a one-off cost of AUD 585 million. This move led to a 1% year-on-year decrease in operating expenses.
Analyst Thomas Strong wrote in a client note: “The better-than-expected performance was mainly due to faster-than-anticipated cost-cutting progress.”
Revenue increased by 1% compared to the average of the previous two quarters, mainly supported by a 0.4% growth in net interest income and a 5% increase in markets business income.
Thomas Strong pointed out that the markets business income of AUD 557 million was slightly below his expectations, indicating that ANZ’s core revenue growth actually performed slightly better.
There had been skepticism about whether Matos, a former HSBC executive who took office in May 2025, could achieve revenue growth targets while significantly cutting costs.
Customer deposits grew by 5% in three months to AUD 787 billion; net loans and advances grew by 1% over the same period, reaching AUD 837 billion.
Editor: He Yun
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Intel CEO: CPU only meets 50% of demand, 14A to start production in Q1 next year, new architecture may reduce inference power consumption to 1/15 of GPU
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stated that the era of AI agents has triggered an explosion in CPU demand, and Intel is currently able to meet only about 50% of its customers' supply needs, with several tech giant CEOs calling to secure supply. In terms of manufacturing process, the 18A node is now in full mass production, while the 14A node will begin production in the first quarter of next year. By opening up factory data, yield rates are improving by about 7% annually. Additionally, he is advancing neuromorphic computing to address energy consumption bottlenecks and expects quantum computing to have a substantial industrial impact within 3 to 5 years.
Reportedly, the US urges Japan to "increase" defense spending; Tokyo considers a 3.5% GDP target, bond market and yen come under pressure first
Under pressure from the United States, Japan is considering setting a new medium-term defense spending target, planning to increase its defense expenditure to 3.5% of GDP to align with NATO and other U.S. allies.
The logic of "cheap yen financing" is changing! Funds are reallocating "carry trades" as Swiss franc and Swedish krona compete for the funding currency position
The appeal of yen financing has diminished, and carry traders have recently turned their attention to the franc and the krona. With the yen’s recent surge making it a less reliable investment option, currencies such as the Swedish krona and Swiss franc are becoming primary funding choices for carry trades.
Crypto prices
More
