(5 October 2004 – Australia) St George Bank has reaffirmed double digit EPS growth for 2004/05 and said it expects its interest margins to be squeezed less than those of the larger commercial banks.Speaking to an audience of investors at a JPMorgan conference in New York, St George managing director Gail Kelly said interest margins at the bank were performing better than the sector.
“St George expects to experience lower margin reduction than the average of the four major banks in FY04 and 05,” she said.
St George upgraded its EPS growth target for 2003/04 from 10 to 11 percent to 11 to 13 percent, and Kelly said this would continue in the current year.
She said one of the growth engines for the bank was business lending to commercial companies, where 69 percent of growth comes from existing customers.
“Growth and margins were maintained despite increased competition,” Kelly told attendees.
She said the bank would grow organically and look to increase cross selling to existing customers.