In unveiling Westpac's results, the group's chief executive officer, Brian Hartzer, and his chief financial officer, Peter King, set a pragmatic tone in their discussion with analysts.First to be jettisoned was a commitment by Hartzer's predecessor Gail Kelly that 15 per cent return on equity was as low as the bank would go."Given the current operating environment, including the expectation that low interest rates will continue for some time, the evolving regulations for capital and liquidity, and higher regulatory and compliance costs, the current 15 per cent ROE target for the Group as a whole is no longer realistic. Westpac believes in maintaining strong return disciplines and will be seeking to achieve a ROE in the range of 13 per cent to 14 per cent in the medium term."This led one analysts to question this "target ROE". Hartzer responded: "We're not saying this is guidance for next year."Peter King followed his CEO's lead in taking a no-nonsense approach to outlining Westpac's financials.The piece of news on lower ROE was sweetened by the announcement that the dividend payout - for this year, anyway - would remain at 80 per cent, although this was a level that CEO and CFO agreed was "higher than what's sustainable in the longer term".With that came a commitment to review the payout and capital retention strategies at the end of the year, when the next tranche of global banking regulations are expected to be published.King was pragmatic, noting that "the best of the asset quality is behind us", as indicated in Westpac's half-year results, courtesy of decline in diary in NZ and mining in Australia; along with higher mortgage hardship numbers.Mortgage hardships had an impact on this year's results, noted King, with that category accounting for 13 of the 21 basis points rise in the Australian loan book's "stressed exposures".He also noted that while mining regions were under stress, it was not a big concern for Westpac as "we are underweight WA", in that loans there comprise 10 per cent of the group's mortgage portfolio."We began winding back our exposure in WA a while ago over concerns for the mining sector. Although the percentages [for bad debts] look relatively high, they're pretty small in the scheme of things," King said.Personal loans and the car loan books have both shown improvements since the last quarter."In aggregate the impairment in asset qualities have brought no surprises," King told the analysts' briefing.In terms of funding, the global regulations have helped Westpac hoard capital - the focus on deposits saw the past year's lending covered by domestic depositors; the lowering of offshore funding requirements - down from $72 billion to $64 billion - has led to the group lifting common equity tier one capital ratio, on an internationally comparable basis, to 14.4 per cent and comfortably in the top quartile of banks globally.In the media conference, Hartzer was keen to make the further point that Westpac, unlike its Big Four peers, was not looking to sell off any offshore assets