Hiatus in Asian earnings growth for ANZ

ANZ's Asia-Pacific region chief executive, Alex Thursby, told the Sydney Morning Herald that ANZ's earnings momentum across its Asia business was likely to flatten this year.

Thursby tipped a recovery in earnings growth in 2011 to meet the bank's target of generating about $1.5 billion in annual earnings from its Asian business, the newspaper reported.

The bank undertook some public relations in Hong Kong yesterday around the finalisation of its takeover of the Royal Bank of Scotland business in the region. One theme of this is the emphasis on seeking an "emerging affluent" customer base to build on the 40,000 customers and six branches acquired from RBS.