Westpac's 1H net profit down 5%, core earnings up 16%

Chief executive Catherine McGrath said refreshed board and executive "exciting". (Image: supplied)

Mon, 09 May 2022

Westpac New Zealand's first-half results are a bit of a mixed bag with net profit falling 5% but core earnings up 16%.The result was boosted by a $126 million profit on the sale of Westpac Life but the $10m write-back of prior provisions compared with a $99m writeback in the previous first half.While costs rose only 5%, the bank's net interest margin (NIM) fell eight basis points to 1.98%.So, the bottom line for the six months ended March 31 fell to $497m compared with the $523m reported for the previous first half.Net lending was up 4%...

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