ANZ has flagged a AU$1.1 billion (NZ$1.25 billion) bottom-line hit line tied to its recently announced mass job cuts in Australia and the biggest settlement ever with the securities regulator there.
The big-four bank will take an after-tax charge of AU$414 million (NZ$473 million) for the 3500 Australian staff redundancies announced in September, it said on Friday.
The pre-tax charge was AU$585 million (NZ$668 million), up from the $560 million (NZ$640 million) originally estimated.
The bank will also take AU$271 million (NZ$310 million) charge for a AU$240 million (NZ$274 million) fine from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the largest punishment the regulator has handed to a single entity.
As part of that settlement, ANZ admitted mishandling a AU$14 billion (NZ$16 billion) bond deal for the federal government and failing to respond to hundreds of notices about customer hardship, making false and misleading statements about its savings interest rates and failing to pay those amounts to customers.
It's also recognising a AU$68 million (NZ$78 million) charge related to costs associated with accelerating its integration of Suncorp Bank, a AU$281 million (NZ$321 million) write-off of its investment in an Indonesian bank and a AU$78 million (NZ$89 million) write-off of Cashrewards, a digital coupon business that ANZ is shutting down.
The impairments will impact ANZ's statutory and cash profit, which the bank will announce on November 10.
Since May, ANZ has been led by Nuno Matos, a former HSBC executive who seems determined to turn the bank around.
Matos said in mid-October that ANZ was performing well in New Zealand and for its institutional customers, but had "a lot to do" for its retail and commercial customers in Australia.
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