-ANZ Group on Tuesday unveiled a new A$2 billion share buyback after the bank's first-half cash earnings largely met analyst estimates, but flagged its concerns about challenges in Australian and global economies.
"The Australian and New Zealand economies are likely to remain subdued, while geopolitical tensions, electoral uncertainty and the introduction of interventionist trade and industry policies will continue internationally."With its new buy-back programme, ANZ follows suit with its larger rivals National Australia Bank and Westpac to return capital to shareholders despite a declining profit as its balance sheet remains supportive.
The Melbourne-headquartered lender capitalised on higher revenues from its institutional payments platform which processes cross-border transactions, as it continued to shift its focus away from traditional mortgage sector. "ANZ's institutional business continues to be an attractive investment underpin and differentiator , while the buyback, Suncorp bank integration and prospect of further capital return are further positives," UBS analysts wrote.