ANZ Scraps Buyback to Invest in Mortgage, Commercial Bankers — Update

By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Australia's ANZ Group scrapped its share buyback and plans to invest in mortgage and commercial bankers as its new CEO tries to boost productivity and returns.

ANZ on Monday said it would halt its ongoing share buyback, which has about 800 million Australian dollars, or US$518 million, remaining. This will allow it to return about A$1 billion in surplus capital to the bank, it said.

ANZ, which is Australia's fourth-largest bank by market capitalization, will invest heavily in its in-house mortgage sales force with the aim of increasing the number of lenders in its branches by up to 50%.

It also wants to increase the number of commercial bankers servicing its business and private customers by up to 50%. It plans to develop its own pipeline of bankers in a new Commercial Bankers Academy.

"Our people will deliver our strategy, and we must focus on a culture of customers, performance and talent," said Chief Executive Nuno Matos, who took charge this year.

ANZ, which is scheduled to announced its fiscal 2025 results on Nov. 10, expects to declare a final dividend of A$0.83, in line with its half-year payout. It anticipates a 1.5% discount to its next two dividend reinvestment plans.

Matos said that ANZ's institutional and New Zealand businesses were already market leading.

By investing materially in retail and commercial, ANZ is looking to raise its return on tangible equity towards 12% by fiscal 2028, from 10.3% in its last full fiscal year. It will then target 13% by fiscal 2030.

It will target a cost-to-income percentage ratio in the mid 40s by fiscal 2028, stripping out duplication and exiting non-core operations including its consumer rewards business.

Last month, ANZ said it would cut about 3,500 employees, or about 8% of its workforce, as part of this drive. On Monday, ANZ said it expects to have cut about A$800 million in annual gross costs in fiscal 2026.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2025 19:24 ET (23:24 GMT)