Westpac Bank Profit Up 8% on Loan Growth, Wealth Management
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Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s second-biggest lender by market value, reported a 8 percent increase in first-half cash profit on loan growth, wealth management income and lower bad debt expenses.
Cash profit, which excludes one-time items, increased to A$3.77 billion ($3.5 billion) in the six months to March 31 from A$3.51 billion a year earlier, the Sydney-based lender said in a statement today. That beat the A$3.64 billion mean estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income rose to A$3.62 billion from A$3.29 billion.