Australia’s ANZ Group sees increase in late home loan payments, ET RealEstate
Australia’s ANZ Group reported on Tuesday an increase in the number of home loan payments overdue more than 90 days in the third quarter, hurt by sticky inflation and high borrowing costs, but said its total loan book rose from the prior quarter.
Banks, which traditionally benefit in a high interest rate environment, have seen their margins crimp and consumer arrears tick up as inflationary pressures erode the disposable income of households.
Mortgage payments past due date for 90 days or more rose 5 basis points from the March quarter to 84 bps for ANZ Group‘s Australian housing loans, the lender said in a limited quarterly trading update without disclosing its cash profit.
Shares of the Melbourne-listed lender rose 0.2% to A$29.74 by 0044 GMT, while the broader benchmark index was up 0.3%.
ANZ’s net loans and advances rose 3%, with the institutional division growing the most among all segments. The bank’s home loan growth also outperformed peers.
“The acceleration of lending growth, albeit most of it in lower-margin market and trade lending, is a positive,” analysts at Citi wrote. “ANZ’s asset quality trends appeared better than peers.”
ANZ’s gross impaired assets – loan payments behind schedule minus the 90-day home loan delays – slipped 2 basis points to 0.19% of total gross loans and advances.
ANZ, which is facing regulatory scrutiny over suspected misreporting of trades in government bonds by its staff, said total provision for future bad and doubtful debts stood at around A$45 million ($30.30 million) at the end of the June quarter. That compares with the A$17 million provision marked in the previous quarter.
The CET1 ratio, a measure of core capital banks are required to maintain, stood at 13.3% as of June-end, lower than 13.5% as of March-end.
ANZ’s customer deposits grew 2%, underpinned by a 6% rise in institutional deposits.
