Australia's Westpac Lifts Dividend as 1st Half Profit Rises 2.7%

By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Westpac raised its dividend after a 2.7% rise in first-half profit, while warning that loan losses could increase due to the economic impacts of the Iran conflict.

Australia's second largest bank by market capitalization on Tuesday reported a net profit for the six months through March of 3.41 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to about US$2.44 billion.

That compared with an average analyst forecast of A$3.45 billion, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha. A year ago, Westpac reported a A$3.32 billion net profit.

The Sydney-based lender recorded a A$443 million credit impairment charge, up 77% from a year ago. As it flagged last month, that was equivalent to 10 basis points of average gross loans, twice the rate recorded across the whole of its last full fiscal year.

Stripping out the impact of impairments and other one-off costs, profit edged less than 1% higher to A$3.48 billion. Westpac lifted its dividend to A$0.77 a share, from A$0.76 a year ago.

Like smaller rivals ANZ and NAB, Westpac raised its provisioning against expected credit losses related to the impact of the Iran conflict.

"The war in the Middle East is presenting challenges for some customers and the economic impact of the conflict will continue through the year," Westpac said.

"The disruption to energy supply chains has driven a rise in prices and we're seeing this flow through to businesses and households."

Westpac's first-half revenue rose 4.6% to A$11.29 billion. It had already reported 4% lending growth and 3% deposit growth, along with a 2% rise in expenses once credit impairments and restructuring charges were stripped out.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2026 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)