It shared recent initiatives for employees and communities
Westpac New Zealand (Westpac NZ) has reported a solid financial year despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector.
In its annual financial results covering 12 months ended September 30, 2021, Westpac reported a 56% increase in cash earnings compared with the same period last year, underpinned by a significant improvement in expected loan impairments.
It also reported a 9% increase in core earnings on the prior comparative period due to growth in lending and deposit volumes and a 3bps increase in net interest margin to 2.00%, partially offset by increased spending on risk and regulatory compliance activities.
“Last year, we increased our lending provisions to $657m to reflect the economic outlook from expected COVID-19 impacts. The economy has performed better than expected and, as such, our lending provision levels have reduced to $525m, representing 0.6% of our total lending portfolio,” Westpac acting chief executive Simon Power.
Westpac also delivered innovative and sustainable financial solutions during the same period to “drive positive change when it comes to tackling problems like climate change.”
“We signed an $85m Sustainability-Linked Loan with Pāmu, New Zealand's largest farming business, that incorporates emissions reduction targets that will be validated against global best practice,” Power said.
Additionally, Westpac signed Australasia's first-ever Social Loan in alignment with international sustainable finance principles.
Read more: Westpac implements wellbeing initiative for employees
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant strain and uncertainty on the sector, but Westpac employees continued to support customers diligently, according to Power.
“Our employees' dedication to their customers is evidenced by the thousands of proactive outbound calls made by our branch teams and the well-attended online seminars organised for business customers,” he added.
As a result, Westpac gave all 4,500+ employees five days of Wellbeing Leave annually to help them take care of themselves and their families.
The bank introduced the benefit alongside increased entitlements to parental leave (up to four weeks of paid partners leave for new parents who are not primary caregivers) and extension of bereavement leave.
Marc Figgins, general manager of human resources and communications at Westpac NZ, said last month: “As a society, we're now much more aware of the importance of wellbeing, and we place a higher premium on being mentally and physically well.
“By offering this leave, we're giving our people more opportunity to balance work time and family time, without having to choose between the two. We know that is important to them, and we also believe a healthier workforce is good for business.”
