(Reuters) -Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp posted a more than 5% rise in third-quarter profit on Thursday, reflecting higher margins as well as a slight rise in lending and deposits.
Contribution from the bank’s treasury and market segment grew significantly from a year ago, which Westpac attributed to a favourable interest-rate climate.
Continued operating momentum drove customer deposit growth of A$10 billion and gross loan growth of A$16 billion, Westpac said in a trading update.
Interest rates in Australia have come off a 12-year high over the past six months, spurring home and business lending volumes.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has slashed its key cash rate by a cumulative 75 basis points this year, including a quarter-point rate cut earlier this week.
The country’s third-largest lender reported cash earnings of A$1.9 billion ($1.24 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with A$1.8 billion a year ago.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
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