Suncorp happy with banking

Suncorp's banking arm is "core to the group", the insurer's new CEO, Patrick Snowball, told the annual meeting in Brisbane yesterday.

Addressing the speculation about "an imminent sale of our bank" Snowball said that "some of this speculation has been a consequence of clumsy attempts during the global financial crisis to create a buyers' market for what people presumed or hoped to be distressed assets.
 
"Australia's regional banks, including Suncorp, seem to have been a favoured target.
 
"I am all too aware of the effect this speculation has had on our people, our customers
and you, our shareholders.
 
"I do not relish being a target and neither, I'm sure, do you.
 
"I would emphasise that I have taken on the role of chief executive of the Suncorp
Group.  That group includes a bank. That bank is core to the group."

In October 2008 Suncorp did seek a buyer for its banking arm and called off the sale after receiving a low-ball offer from ANZ. The announcement of the government guarantee on bank deposits was critical to the survival of Suncorp in the banking industry.