Westpac Banking Corporation
Another good performance and smart acquisitions have prompted the judges to name Westpac Banking Corporation as Australia’s best bank for the second consecutive year.
Despite difficult times for Australian banks, Westpac maintained an impressive ROE of 19.2%, boosted its dividend by 12% and showed a 10% increase in Tier 1 capital.
Following its acquisition of Rothschild’s asset management activities in Australia in May 2002, Westpac made two further acquisitions that have put it on a higher growth trajectory for the medium to long term. In August 2002, it bought a majority stake in Hastings Funds Management, enabling it to consolidate its strong position in the Australian private equity and, now, asset management industries. Two months later, it acquired the Australian and New Zealand financial activities of British Telecom (BT). The BT acquisition complemented the Rothschild purchase in particular by adding more delivery platforms to business customers.
Westpac’s technological achievements include an online business portal for small and medium-size enterprises, allowing them to manage their business and finance better. It also introduced “talking” cash machines, which assist people with disabilities, particularly those with impaired vision.
Westpac CEO David Morgan said: “Westpac’s success over the last five years has been built around our focus of getting the building blocks of our relationships with our customers right. We strongly believe that financial success cannot be divorced from the quality of our customers’ experience with us. It’s our determination to get the basics right – the practical parts of our customers’ everyday experience, and the more emotional or value-added elements of a great service experience – that will make us a clear leader in our industry.
“We are delighted to be named the Bank of the Year for 2003, and look forward to continuing our work in building a solid platform for future growth.”
