- Business
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBCPL.AX), Australia's first bank established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales and renamed in 1982 following its merger with the Commercial Bank of Australia, provides a broad range of consumer, business, institutional banking, and wealth management services; its core offerings include transaction and savings accounts, term deposits, home loans and mortgages under brands such as Westpac, St. George, BankSA, Bank of Melbourne, and RAMS, personal loans and credit cards, business lending encompassing cash flow finance, trade finance, equipment finance, property finance, and treasury services, institutional services featuring transactional banking, debt capital markets, margin lending, and broking, as well as wealth management products through BT Financial Group including investment platforms like Panorama and BT Wrap, superannuation, and insurance solutions; operations span Australia, New Zealand (one of the largest banks there serving 1.5 million customers via 196 branches), the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia, and the Pacific region including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and other south Pacific nations, with headquarters at Westpac Place in Sydney and approximately 35,000 employees serving over 13 million customers worldwide.
In the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, Westpac reported net profit excluding notable items of $7.0 billion, down 2% from the prior year, with gross loans expanding 6% to $856 billion driven by 5% growth in Australian housing loans (excluding RAMS), 15% in business lending targeting sectors like agriculture, health, and professional services, and 17% in institutional lending focused on infrastructure, resources, energy, and property; customer deposits rose 7% to $723 billion, reflecting 10% household deposit growth in Australia (1.0x system), 6% in business, and 10% in institutional, while the deposit-to-loan ratio improved to 84.9%; core net interest margin contracted slightly to 1.81%, offset by 3% growth in average interest-earning assets, with non-interest income up 5% from higher fees, markets revenue, and wealth management.
Recent strategic initiatives include the rollout of the UNITE transformation program, with $660 million invested in FY2025 completing eight initiatives such as consolidating chat platforms, enabling multi-offset mortgages, migrating bankers to Digital Banker, and launching one trade finance system, alongside plans for $850-950 million investment in FY2026 toward simplifying products, processes, and systems including mortgage simplification, one collections platform, and one wealth platform; business banking expansion added 350 new bankers, regional service centers in Moree (NSW), Leongatha (VIC), Smithton (TAS), and Darwin, targeting SMEs in agriculture and renewables with 15% lending growth; Westpac One platform launched for enhanced transaction banking with real-time deposit ledger and NPP connectivity; proprietary mortgage lending strengthened with 180 additional home finance managers, investor lending mix up to 39%, and time-to-decision under 5 days; the auto finance portfolio was sold in March 2025, RAMS closed to new business, and AI tools like Jess (scam detection) and mortgage AI assessor deployed; leadership transitioned with Anthony Miller appointed CEO in December 2024 succeeding Peter King, under Chair John McFarlane; fully franked ordinary dividends increased 1% to 153 cents per share at 76% payout ratio of net profit excluding notables, with CET1 ratio steady at 12.5%.