ANZ Group reported a statutory profit of A$7.27 billion and a cash profit of A$7.59 billion for the year ended 30 September 2026. Cash profit was 31% higher than a year earlier. Excluding significant items from its 2025 financial year, cash profit rose 10% and cash return on tangible equity climbed 109 basis points to 11.56%.
"The results we are announcing today demonstrate the significant progress we have made through disciplined execution in the first year of our ANZ 2030 strategy," chief executive Nuno Matos said on Monday. ANZ declared a final dividend of 83 cents a share, with franking raised to 80% from 75%, for a full-year payout of 166 cents. The common equity tier 1 ratio ended the year at 11.99%, 4 basis points lower than in September 2025.
SAVINGS RUN AHEAD OF THE HALF-YEAR GUIDE
The bank said simplification produced a productivity benefit of A$902 million, more than the A$875 million of gross cost savings it had flagged at the half-year results. Its cost-to-income ratio improved by more than 4 percentage points to 49.26%, and operating expenses fell 14% to A$11.07 billion, according to Grafa.
ANZ said it remains on track to finish the integration of Suncorp Bank by June 2027 and to launch a single customer front-end for retail and small business customers by September 2027, in line with the accelerated timelines announced last year.
A RESET UNDER A NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Matos was appointed group chief executive on 12 May 2025, having most recently run Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC. He released the ANZ 2030 strategic plan five months after joining.
The plan's first phase was framed around getting the basics right: resetting the internal culture, fast-tracking the Suncorp Bank integration, upgrading the digital offering, cutting duplication and costs, and shoring up risk controls. ANZ competes in a concentrated market where the four majors held A$5.13 trillion of assets at June 2026, about 73% of the banking total.
COLLECTIVE PROVISIONS RISE BY A$108 MILLION
The total credit impairment charge was A$582 million. The individual provision charge rose by A$33 million to A$360 million, and the collective provision charge rose by A$108 million to A$222 million. The results arrive just after Australia's fifth interest rate rise since February.
ANZ said retail customers in Australia are largely resilient, with the majority ahead of scheduled repayments. It added: "However, for some customers, financial pressure did become more evident in the second half." Non-performing exposures held at 0.57% of total credit exposure. The net interest margin narrowed 2 basis points to 1.53%, with ANZ pointing to increased competition in lending.
THE TGB VIEW
ANZ ranks 19th in the TGB Bank Rankings for Asia-Pacific, with assets of US$856.4 billion at its financial-year-end exchange rate, but its 8.3% return on equity for the year to September 2025 was the lowest of the three September-year majors in the table, behind Westpac at 9.5% and National Australia Bank at 10.7%. On the latest statutory figures, ANZ's net profit rose 23% while NAB's fell 9.1% and Westpac's slipped 1%. The next dated milestones are the Suncorp Bank integration, due by June 2027, and the single customer front-end, due by September 2027.
Bank news that matters, every weekday.
Follow The Global Banker on LinkedIn