ANZ's profit growth slowed, mortgage book shrank in June Qtr

The ANZ New Zealand branch's disclosure statement, which includes all the bank's activities in this country, showed net profit rose 9.8% to $257 million for the three months ended June 30, down from the 18.5% growth to $735 million shown for the nine months ended June.

The slowdown reflected a slowing in net interest income growth of 1.9% to $649 million for the three months compared with the 4.8% growth shown for the nine months.

That was offset by charges against profit for bad loans falling to $47 million for the quarter and $132 million for the nine months compared with $83 million and $408 million respectively for the same periods a year earlier.

ANZ New Zealand chief executive David Hisco says ANZ's underlying profit for the nine months ended June was up 45% to $916 million which he says reflects "sound cost management and a significant reduction in provisioning for credit impairment."