Westpac Banking H1 Profit Rises, Ups Dividend

(RTTNews) - Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AX, WBK) Monday reported increased profit for the first half of the year, and lifted its dividend.

Westpac Group Chief Executive Officer, Gail Kelly, said the result was driven by a strong operating performance from each division, supported by a further improvement in asset quality.

Net profit attributable to owners of Westpac Banking climbed to A$3.622 billion from A$3.287 billion in the previous year. Prior-year results have been restated.

For the half year ended March 31, net interest income improved to A$6.639 billion from A$6.292 billion in the previous year. The firm noted that there was more intense competition, in particular in the Institutional and New Zealand businesses.

Non-interest income was A$3.151 billion, compared to A$2.878 billion last year, driven largely by the wealth business. Impairment charges fell to A$341 million from A$438 million.

The company announced an interim fully franked dividend of 90 Australian cents per share, up 4 cents or 5 percent.

"We have recently seen signs of increased customer activity and expect the economy to gradually improve throughout the remainder of 2014," Kelly added.

WBC.AX fell 1.2 percent to trade at A$34.44.