ANZ is the big four bank with the biggest reach overseas, from New Zealand to the trade routes of Asia. Here’s how it makes its money, and how it is being reshaped.
ANZ Group is one of Australia’s big four banks and one of the biggest companies on the ASX.
Its roots go back to 1835, when the Bank of Australasia was founded in London to do business in the Australian colonies. The Australia and New Zealand Bank was formed in 1951, when it merged with the Union Bank of Australia. ANZ is headquartered in Melbourne, and its financial year ends on 30 September.
Three big businesses
Like other banks, ANZ makes most of its money from net interest income, the gap between what it earns on loans and what it pays on deposits and other borrowing.
Its Australian retail bank lends to home buyers and offers everyday accounts, including through its digital bank, ANZ Plus. In 2025, it bought Suncorp Bank from insurer Suncorp for about $4.9 billion, adding more than a million customers, mostly in Queensland.
ANZ New Zealand is the largest bank in New Zealand, and a major contributor to the group’s profits.
Its institutional bank serves large companies, governments and investors. It is stronger in Asia than the other big four banks, helping companies move money and finance trade across the region. Corporate lending usually earns lower margins than home loans, but brings in fees from payments, foreign exchange and markets.
A reset
Nuno Matos, a former senior HSBC executive, became chief executive in May 2025, replacing Shayne Elliott. He launched a plan to simplify the bank, cut costs and fix its relationship with regulators.
ANZ cut about 3,500 roles and agreed in 2025 to pay $240 million in penalties after the corporate regulator, ASIC, uncovered misconduct, including in how it handled a government bond deal and customers in hardship. It is also moving Suncorp Bank customers onto ANZ’s systems, and building a single system for its retail and small business customers.
The risks
The risks include rising unemployment, a housing downturn, strong competition for home loans, the cost and complexity of its overhaul, economic conditions in New Zealand and Asia, and regulation. ANZ’s dividends are 80 per cent franked, partly because some of its profits are earned overseas.
Latest results, as at 9 November 2026
Full year to September 2026, reported 9 November 2026: cash profit rose 31 per cent to $7.59 billion, compared with a year earlier that included large one-off costs. Without those, it rose 10 per cent. Statutory profit was $7.27 billion, up 23 per cent.
Costs fell 14 per cent, helped by the job cuts. The money set aside for bad debts rose to $582 million, and Matos said some retail customers were under growing financial pressure. The Suncorp Bank move is due to finish by June 2027. ANZ will pay total dividends of $1.66 a share.
Next update: ANZ reports its half-year results, to March 2027, in May 2027.
