Banking & Saving - ANZ delivers better than expected profits

Personal banking has contributed $1.442 billion to the ANZ Bank's profit result for the year to September, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year. The retail division of the bank achieved a 12 per cent growth in mortgages, credit cards grew by 7 per cent and deposits were up by 13 per cent. The net interest margin that ANZ was able to achieve was down to 2.3 per cent, 1 basis point lower than last year's result. Profit from the institutional division was up by 6 per cent to $1.448 billion, helped by a 27 per cent rise in deposits as companies sought more conservative havens for their cash during the global credit crisis.