(Australia) – ANZ Banking Corp will begin the bank reporting season this week and is expected to report a A$1.1 billion net result for the six months to the end of December.The bank, which posted a A$1.05 billion profit for the same period last year, is also tipped to announce a A$500 million share buyback scheme.
Overall, however, analysts are expecting flat growth from the banks after conservative profit forecasts from most of the majors over the past few months. Dividend flows are expected to remain solid.
St George, Westpac and NAB will report their earnings in the next four weeks while Macquarie Bank announces its full year result on May 13.