iscover 
The major bank released its half-year results for the period ending 31 March 2026 on Friday (1 May), posting a cash profit of $3.761 billion, up 14 per cent on the previous half.
Across the group, ANZ said higher business lending volumes, institutional core lending volumes and home loan growth contributed to lending increases throughout the period.
Business banking
ANZ’s business and private bank division recorded higher loan balances, customer deposits and profitability over the half year.
Total private and business bank loans in the division reached $68 billion by 31 March, up 2 per cent from $67 billion six months earlier and $66.3 billion in the prior corresponding period.
For Suncorp, a subsidiary of ANZ, business loans slightly contracted from $13 billion to $12 billion.
Cash profit in the business and private banking division hit $698 billion, up from $647 billion in the previous half and $655 billion in the March 2025 half year.
Net interest income lifted to $1.625 billion from $1.591 billion, while operating income increased to $1.779 billion, from $1.744 billion.
ANZ said growth in the division was driven by higher business lending volumes, with net loans and advances increasing by $1.3 billion over the half and by $2.5 billion over the 12 months to March.
Customer deposits in business and private bank also increased by $4.9 billion compared with September and by $4.5 billion year on year.
Credit impairment charges in the division were $52 million, unchanged on the previous half.
While ANZ said that its business banking customers had been affected by the economic consequences of the Middle East conflict, most were maintaining a strong position.
“While our business banking customers in Australia and New Zealand generally entered this period well prepared, for smaller businesses – particularly in the impacted sectors – higher operating costs are placing pressure on margins and cash flow,” said ANZ chief executive officer Nuno Matos.
“We are supporting our business customers through this time, including by offering zero interest loans through the Australian government’s $1 billion Economic Resilience Program – where we are already seeing strong demand.”
Transformation of business banking
Matos added that part of ANZ’s overarching strategy was an overhaul of its business bank.
He outlined: “Under our ANZ 2030 strategy, the transformation of the business bank will be driven by building a front line that matches our ambition in size and quality and ensuring we have the right platform for the right customers, while leveraging our strong private bank foundations."
He added that the aim was for ANZ to have more business bankers who were more skilled with better tools.
“In this regard on the front line, our initial focus is on upskilling our business bankers, with our upgraded Banker Academy ready for its first major intake. In this half we have equipped them with better tools, having launched agentic AI-enabled capability in our CRM.
“With the right foundations in place, we remain committed to increasing business bankers by close to 50 per cent by 2030.”
Brokers push residential growth
ANZ also recorded continued growth across its mortgage book during the half, with housing lending balances increasing across both Australia and New Zealand.
Within Australia, term loans for housing rose to $407.4 billion at 31 March, up from $401.5 billion in September and $391.7 billion a year earlier.
Separate portfolio metrics released by the bank showed ANZ’s home loans and advances rose to $348.1 billion over the six months to March, while mortgage funds under management increased to $346 billion from $333 billion a year earlier.
Broker distribution also continued to strengthen, with brokers accounting for 62 per cent of ANZ’s home loan portfolio by March, up from 60 per cent a year earlier.
Nonetheless, ANZ said that despite this broker-dominated picture, it had ambitions to enlarge its proprietary footprint, as reported by Broker Daily’s sister brand, The Adviser.
On new business, 69 per cent of new home loans were originated through brokers during the half, compared with 67 per cent in the prior corresponding period.
ANZ settled 84,000 new home loans over the six months to March, down slightly from 86,000 a year earlier, although total new funds under management rose from $42 billion to $44 billion as average loan sizes increased.
Overall outlook
Across the broader group, ANZ’s total net loans and advances were broadly flat year on year at $822.3 billion, as increases in business lending volumes, institutional core lending volumes and home loan growth were partially offset by lower market-related lending balances.
Cash profit before credit impairment and income tax rose 7 per cent to $5.643 billion.
However, the group’s net interest margin declined by 3 basis points year on year from 155 basis points to 152 basis points, which ANZ said was driven by ongoing competition across most divisions and the timing impact of Reserve Bank rate changes.
Credit impairment charges across the group increased to $277 million from $143 million a year ago, driven by downside risk provisions, portfolio growth and revised expectations around the future cash rate path.
Matos said that the ANZ’s half-year result demonstrated three things.
“First, our transformation is running at pace, and we are making good progress in executing our five immediate priorities safely, sustainably, and on time.
“Second, in parallel, we are investing in line with our ANZ 2030 strategic initiatives, to deliver for our customers, accelerate growth and outperform the market beyond 2027.
“Third, importantly, we are already delivering materially better returns for shareholders.”
While the conflict in the Middle East and subsequent fuel crisis had adversely impacted many businesses across Australia, Matos said the bank had not seen a material increase in customers entering hardship, nor has it had seen a substantial impact on ANZ’s credit, capital and liquidity position.
“As a business that’s structured to be highly diversified, optimise capital use and focused on transaction banking, ANZ has entered this period with a strong balance sheet and deep customer relationships,” he said.
“However, the situation remains dynamic and we are prepared for a range of outcomes. Reflecting this raised risk in the external environment, we have increased our collective provisions, with our coverage ratio up 4 basis points. We continue to watch the situation closely.”
[Related: ANZ appoints new business and private bank group executive]
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?Make Broker Daily a preferred news source on Google.