ANZ Bank has today released its full year profit of $1.8 billion after tax, an eight per cent decrease on the 2018 financial year.
The Deputy Prime Minister is hinting that the fallout isn’t over yet.
Its cash net profit was up two per cent after the sale of life insurance company Onepath Life (NZ) Limited and ANZ New Zealand's 25 per cent share in Paymark Ltd.
ANZ New Zealand acting chief executive officer Antonia Watson said while the company's full-year result reflected a solid underlying performance, it had been a challenging 12 months for ANZ New Zealand reputationally.
The bank's previous chief executive, David Hisco, stepped down in June this year amid controversy following a review into his personal expenses.
David Hisco is leaving ANZ after an internal review of his expenses caused concern.
ANZ New Zealand board chair Sir John Key said at the time the board was “specifically referred to long-term personal use of corporate chauffeur cars and charging the company for storage, in what he claimed was without proper disclosure”.
The bank also refused to comment on reports it sold a luxury Auckland house at a loss to the wife of Mr Hisco following his departure from the bank.
A new independent valuation shows the bank undersold the house by $4 million.
The upmarket property at 269 St Heliers Bay Road was reportedly sold to Mr Hisco’s wife, Deborah Walsh, at $6.9 million despite a QV valuation of more than $10 million.
However, Ms Watson said it had been a transformative year for the industry.
"While reviews by the FMA and RBNZ concluded the widespread misconduct issues in Australia were not found in New Zealand, they helped us take stock of where we are today, what we're doing well and what we could do better for our customers and we're making changes," Ms Watson said.
"Beyond those reviews we have faced our own challenges. Despite our tough year, our people have continued to put our customers first every day."
Ms Watson said despite the difficult year, ANZ New Zealand continued to perform well.
Key points:
- Statutory profit down eight per cent at NZ$1.825 million.
- Cash profit up two per cent at NZ$1,933 million including impact of one-off items.
- Revenue up three per cent including impact of one-off items.
- Expenses increased five per cent due to higher regulatory compliance spend.
- Customer deposits up five per cent and gross lending up four per cent.
- KiwiSaver funds under management grew 14 per cent to $14.8 billion.
- Ordinary dividend of NZ$375 million paid in March 2019.
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