ANZ not cannibalising Australia for Asian growth

ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has rejected the suggestion that the bank is funding its growth in Asia by cutting back on its Australian business.

Speaking to analysts at the release of the bank's 2013/14 results on Friday, Smith said: "It is wrong to say we are starving our core franchise to fund our business in Asia, we are investing our excess capital in Asia."

Australia contributed A$3 billion to group cash profit in the year to September - 42.2 per cent of total earnings. That was an increase of seven per cent over the previous year.

All other divisions, including New Zealand, international and institutional banking and wealth, reported higher rates of growth but, as Smith pointed out, Australia is in a period of low system growth.

In response to the low-growth environment, Smith said the Australian division would continue to push down its cost-to-income ratio, which was 37.2 per cent - a figure he described as "world class".

However, the push to lower costs should not be read as ANZ starving its core business. The bank is keen to continue growing market share in home and business lending and actually increased staff numbers by two per cent during the year.

A substantial portion of the bank's $1.2 billion investment spend during the year was committed to its Banking on Australia program, which is building digital and data analytic capabilities.