Australia's ANZ net profit falls 20%

ANZ Bank, one of the Australian big four banks, on Friday reported a 20 percent fall in its unaudited statutory profit for the three months to the end of December 2012. ANZ's unaudited statutory profit after tax for the quarter fell to 1.36 billion AU dollars (1.41 billion U.S. dollars), down from 1.7 billion AU dollars in the previous corresponding period. However, the bank's unaudited cash profit for the quarter rose 6.2 percent to 1.53 billion AU dollars. ANZ Chief Executive Officer Mike Smith said the bank's business performance was solid and in line with expectations outlined in October 2012 when ANZ released its 2012 full year results. "This has seen ANZ continue to perform despite soft economic conditions in Australia and New Zealand, and cautious behavior by consumers and business," Smith said in a statement. "Our strategy has seen us benefit from volume growth in Asia and our exposure to these opportunities is an increasingly important part of the group's earnings, with greater China our third largest source of profits after Australia and New Zealand." He also said ANZ had won market share in Australian and New Zealand in regards to retail deposits and home loans during the quarter. "Productivity improvement is a key focus ensuring that we can continue to invest in our super regional strategy while also maintaining our financial performance," Smith said.