ANZ's impairment charges edge higher

The credit quality story at ANZ in the June quarter may be more nuanced than implied in an outline used by the bank to support its capital raising last week.

ANZ said gross impaired assets fell three per cent over the nine months to 30 June 2015 in a commentary around its third quarter trading update.

But the bank's Pillar 3 disclosure for the quarter shows a rise in impaired assets over three months and six months of three per cent over either period compared with December 2014.

ANZ did reiterate that "while loss rates are expected to remain well under the long term average, [it] estimates that the total impairment charge for FY15 will be around A$1.2 billion, or 21 basis points compared to 19 bps in FY14."


The bank's net profit for the quarter was $5.58 billion - up 11 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

The bank is feeling its share of the pain from lower commodity prices. Speaking at an investor briefing, chief financial officer Shayne Elliot said "the impact of the downturn has impacted both Western Australia and Queensland."

A wider caution is also a restraint on the bank and its interest margins.

"In Australia, it's a [corporate] liquidity story. The top end of town have not borrowed as much as they have previously," and when they did so, they faced finely priced borrowing options "particularly from international banks," Elliot said.

Elliot did not want to be drawn on controversies rumbling around ANZ's Malaysian associate AMMB.

In response to a question from one investor Elliot clarified that "AmBank did not lose its CEO, he moved on in a normal transition. We will announce a new CEO shortly."

That person will have plenty to consider as the 1MDB scandal rolls on with Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak at the centre of bribery allegations, with money flows through AmBank accounts.