Westpac posts steady third-quarter profit, helped by higher capital earnings [Video]

Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp beat analyst forecasts for third-quarter profit on Monday and reported improved net interest margin, helped by fewer bad loans and better-than-expected cost controls, sending its shares to a six-year peak.

Based on the lender’s average quarterly performance in the first half of 2024, unaudited net profit of 1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.20 billion) for the three months ended June 30 was up 6%, and was 7% higher than Visible Alpha consensus estimates, according to Citi.

Quarterly expenses rose 2% to AU$2.7 billion, due to increased technological investments and higher costs for tech services.

But the bank’s expenses were still lower than the market’s expectation of AU$2.8 billion, suggesting effective cost management.

“We think this will be well received by investors, given the positive differentiation versus peer results last week….we think the market will focus on the positive momentum in core NIM and volumes, which should lead to a better revenue …