Westpac fattens margins despite low interest rates

Westpac chief executive David McLean said it took "quite a lot of hard work" to lift margins.

Tue, 04 May 2021

Westpac New Zealand's first-half results showed it has managed to fatten net interest margin despite the very low interest-rate environment and at the same as doing a roaring trade in mortgages.The bank's net interest margin recovered to 2.06% at March 31 from 1.89% at Sept 30 last year, although it was steady with March last year.Westpac's total lending was up 4% in the six months ended March from the same six months a year earlier, but housing lending was up 10% to $58.4 billion. Mortgages now account for 65.4% of Westpac's to...

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