ANZ in good shape

The ANZ banking group, which has been widely speculated to be in the market for a major wealth management acquisition, has reported a solid increase in profit for the four months to the end of January.

The banking group reported a 16 per cent increase in unaudited underlying profit after tax for the period of approximately $1.6 billion on the back of income growth of around 8 per cent.

The banking group, which late last year acquired ING in Australia and New Zealand, said the integration process was proceeding on track along with its acquisition of some of the Asian assets of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Commenting on the result, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said the outlook for the economies of Australia, New Zealand and Asia was significantly more positive than at the same point last year and the improved conditions had been reflected in the more positive outlook for provisions.

“The economic cycle is unfolding much as we anticipated although the resilience of the economy in Australia now means that we are unlikely to see the stress that might originally have been expected in the consumer portfolio,” he said.

However, Smith said globally the new ‘normal’ was going to be characterised by lower economic growth compared to the decade prior to the financial crisis, albeit that Asia was expected to remain the world’s best performing region, confirming ANZ’s super regional strategy.