“We’ve grown our market share in the second half of the year across home and business lending, giving us strong momentum as we go into the new financial year,” McGrath said.
The rise in interest rates coincided with a retreat in house prices, but recent home buyers who’d bought for the long term shouldn’t be worried about the current value of their property, she added.
McGrath said Westpac NZ was stepping up support for customers, including proactively contacting customers at risk of hardship or who might experience big mortgage rate increases.
“After a year of market volatility and rising living costs, many New Zealanders will be feeling uncertain about the future. We want our customers to know our bankers are here to offer help and solutions.”
The bank increased its branch hours by 370 hours and opened a new regional contact centre in Hamilton. It also increased the number of specialist bankers for customers with complex needs requiring extra care.
“Overall, households and businesses are managing reasonably well, but we know there are some customers doing it tough. We’re here to work with those households and businesses and I’d encourage anyone who needs help to get in touch.”
McGrath said despite market volatility and a worsening global economic outlook, the fundamentals of the economy remained strong, and New Zealand was well-positioned relative to other countries.
“Commodity prices are holding firm, exporters are being assisted by the subdued New Zealand dollar, and hospitality businesses will be pleased tourists are beginning to return.
“Inflation remains a concern, however, our economists think that the rate of increase has peaked, and the accumulated effect of higher interest rates will gradually bring it down over the next couple of years.”
The bank had a net impairment benefit of $27m, compared to $84m in the prior financial year.
Parent company Westpac Banking Corporation made a net profit after tax of A$5.694 billion in the year to September 30. That was up 4 per cent on the prior year but cash earnings fell 1 per cent to A$5.276b.
The bank will pay a final dividend of A64c per share, bringing the total dividends paid for the year to A$1.25 per share up 6 per cent on the prior year.
Westpac’s annual report was also released today revealing Australia CEO Peter King received total remuneration of A$5,018,268 for the year up from A$4,202,453 in the prior financial year.
NZ CEO McGrath had total remuneration of A$1,333,212 or $1,458,540 for the nearly 11 months she worked for the bank from November 15 2021 to September 30.
