4 May 2015

Westpac NZ lifts annual cash earnings

4:01 pm on 4 May 2015

Westpac New Zealand's first half underlying profit rose 2 percent to $441 million, boosted by its digital banking business.

Westpac bank

Photo: AFP

However, its bad debt was eight times more than the same time last year.

The Australian bank said its total first half net profit was $3.61 billion, $13 million less than it made in the same six-month period, a year earlier.

The bank said the Group's cash earnings were impacted by an $85 million tax charge, resulting from adjustments to derivatives and an increase in bad debt charges.

Total bad debt charges rose 2 percent, while in New Zealand, the bad debts charges were nearly 8 times more at $31 million, compared with $4 million, last year.

On the positive side, Australian customer deposits grew 2 percent, while New Zealand customer deposits grew 4 percent.