Westpac projects slower balance sheet growth
Westpac balance sheet growth will slow and its impairment charges grow as the economy slows in 2009, according to chairman Ted Evans.
Evans made the projection in an address to the bank’s 2008 annual general meeting this morning, only days after an increase in its capital base through a $2.5 billion share placement.
He said the placement would enhance the bank’s “balance sheet flexibility and strength”, but this had to be seen within the context of a “world that is effectively in recession”.
However, he said Westpac had “entered 2008 in strong shape and maintained that position throughout the year, a scorecard few banks around the world could claim”.
Apart from strengthening its “funding and capital position” during the year, the bank has increased its cash earnings by 6 per cent and delivered an increased dividend, up 8 per cent.
It has also maintained its “sound risk profile and discipline”, and enhanced efficiency (taking a full percentage point off its cost to income ratio)”, he said.
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