ANZ's annual general meeting was run as a virtual event, based out of the group's head office in Melbourne, rather than in Adelaide, as originally planned.
It was dominated by chairman Paul O’Sullivan, along with ANZ's chief executive officer Shayne Elliott.
The mood among the executives in the room was one of cautious optimism, with O'Sullivan noting in his opening comments that "the overall economy in Australia and New Zealand has remained in remarkably good shape with all indicators pointing to a solid rebound".
From a bank perspective, he said, the 2021 year "demonstrated the benefits of a diversified portfolio as we successfully navigated the continuing impacts of COVID-19 while also providing solid returns for our shareholders".
Performance highlights for the 2020/21 financial year, as set out by O'Sullivan were:
• strengthening the balance sheet, with an APRA Common Equity Tier One capital ratio of 12.3 per cent at the end of the financial year, A$6 billion above APRA’s ‘unquestionably strong’ measure, and a statutory profit of $6.16 billion which was up 72 per cent on the prior year;• returning to long term dividend payout levels while funding a share buyback: total dividend per share paid was 142 cents up from 60 cents last year and meant more than $4 billion was returned to shareholders;• “leading the sector” on cost management;• staff remaining “highly engaged” despite COVID-induced disruptions; and• continued investment in new digital banking platforms “which will radically improve customer and staff experience”.
The O'Sullivan stopped for a reality check: "The environment remains uncertain and highly competitive, with many challenges ahead.
"We recognise we have more to do, particularly in the home loan processing space, but we have made good progress in building a bank to better compete in a highly competitive, fragmented market.
"This year major increases in demand for home loans in Australia impacted our ability to process applications in a timely manner. Unfortunately, this resulted in a loss of market share which was a disappointing outcome," he said.
Speaking in favour of the adoption of the remuneration report, O'Sullivan said "On the whole, management had a good year, either exceeding or meeting most of the objectives set by the Board. Profit was up, capital management was strong and New Zealand and Institutional had particularly good years.
"There were challenges and this is reflected in the final outcomes for our Disclosed Executives with the average variable remuneration being around 60 per cent of their maximum opportunity."
Shareholders were also asked to vote on whether or not CEO Elliott should be granted long term variable remuneration, in the form of performance rights, with a current face value of A$3,500,000 at full vesting.
These resolutions passed with more than 94 and 98 per cent support, respectively.
The other resolutions O'Sullivan singled out in his opening comments related to climate change and ANZ's lending policies for the natural resources sector.
"We recognise the most important role we play in enabling the transition to net zero by 2050 is to work with our customers to reduce their emissions," he said.