#Australian_bank #Westpac declared a special dividend on Monday and raised its share repurchase #program by A$1 #billion ($661 million) citing a strong balance sheet even as its first-half #profit fell by 16% on intense competition and high costs.
Traditionally beneficiaries of rising interest #rates, the country’s so-called Big Four lenders have spent the past year sacrificing margins to write new home loans and paying more to depositors, narrowing their closely watched “net interest margin”.
#Westpac’s net interest margin slipped to 1.89%, down 7 basis points from a year ago, while net #interest income remained largely flat at A$9.13 #billion.
As a result, the country’s No. 3 lender by market value posted net profit of A$3.34 #billion, below last year’s A$4.00 billion. That slightly missed Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$3.43 billion compiled by #UBS.
“While we’ve seen an uptick in stress in our loan books, this is to be expected given the large increase in interest rates, high inflation and taxation,” Chief Executive Officer #Peter_King said in a media release.
Westpac declared an interim dividend of 75 Australian cents per share and a special dividend of 15 cents apiece. It hiked its existing share buyback program by A$1 billion to A$2.5 billion.
The lender’s common equity tier 1 ratio – a key measure of spare cash – stood at 12.55%, 105 basis points above operating range, it said.
“We remain appropriately provisioned and with a strong balance sheet,” King added.
Last week, the country’s top business lender National Australia Bank (OTC:#NABZY) also announced it would double a buyback program begun last August to A$3 billion even after it reported a 13% drop in its first-half cash earnings.
($1 = 1.5131 #Australian_dollars
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