(Australia) – Australia’s Westpac Banking Corporation has reported interim results in line with earlier guidance from the Bank, with headline numbers being:Pre tax profit lifting 11 percent to A$1.49 billion at March 2003 from September 2002.
Net profit falling 10 percent to A$1.05 billion, down 10 percent over the same period.
The Bank’s performance in the increasingly important business lending sector climbed 4.5 percent over the half year to A$25.5 billion, reflecting growing demand for debt amongst Australia’s middle-market commercial customers. Much of this must be coming from Westpac’s installed customer base as East & Partners’ data shows a diminishing share of primary relationships with both this sector and the top end corporate market, although this is slowing. The Bank’s efforts at cross-marketing its product portfolio into existing customers may finally be bearing some fruit.