Australia's ANZ Bank posts record full year profit of $6bn

Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group on Tuesday posted an 11 percent rise in its full- year net profit to 6.3 billion AU dollars (6 billion U.S. dollars). The bank's cash profit, which excludes one-off items, also rose 11 percent to a record 6.5 billion AU dollars. ANZ Chief Executive Officer Mike Smith said the record profit was the result of the bank's long-term growth strategy focused on growth in its domestic franchises and targeted expansion in Asia. "This consistency and operational discipline are producing better outcomes for our customers and for our shareholders," he said in a statement. "Importantly, the long-term nature of what we are building at ANZ means there is still more gas in the tank." Smith said the 2013 results demonstrated that ANZ's regional strategy was not only about the promise of future growth and returns, but also showed that it was delivering strong results for the bank's customers and shareholders. He said the bank had improved its productivity over the past six years. "The scale of the transformation at ANZ over the past six years is significant and we are now beginning to unlock the real potential of our franchise in Australia, New Zealand and Asia- Pacific," he said.