SYDNEY, April 7, 2026, 08:19 AEST
ANZ Group Holdings comes back into focus on Tuesday after Australia’s Easter market shutdown, with the lender last quoted at A$36.63 before the break and a May 1 half-year result now the next big marker for investors. 1
That matters because the country’s fourth-largest bank will open the next round of major-bank May reporting, ahead of National Australia Bank on May 4 and Westpac on May 5. The timing makes ANZ an early read on margins, credit quality and whether chief executive Nuno Matos’s overhaul is carrying through. 2
At the most recent cash-market close, ANZ rose 0.71%. Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.52%, while NAB slipped 0.28% and Westpac lost 0.52%, leaving ANZ firmer than two of its closest peers going into the holiday pause. 1
The bank earned that attention in February. ANZ said first-quarter cash profit — its preferred measure that strips out one-off items — was A$1.94 billion, up 17% on the second-half quarterly average excluding significant items, while its cost-to-income ratio, a simple efficiency gauge, fell to 49.5%. Matos said the productivity program was “well underway, delivering a significant reduction in expenses while growing revenue.” 3
Citigroup analyst Thomas Strong said the February beat was “largely driven by faster than expected progress on costs,” with expenses about 3% below his expectations. Jefferies analyst Andrew Lyons said the bigger test would be whether ANZ can protect net interest margin — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays to fund them — when it gets back to housing growth. Reuters also said ANZ has about 14% of the mortgage market, the lowest share among the majors. 4
ANZ moved its half-year results to May 1 from May 7. That pulls its release closer to NAB and Westpac and leaves investors little room to wait for a cleaner sector read. 2
The backdrop is not helping. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters on Monday that “all roads now lead to higher prices and slower growth” because of the Middle East war. If that persists, it could squeeze borrowers and loan demand; ANZ itself said in February it remained cautious on the outlook because of global uncertainty and the recent rise in the cash rate. 5
For now, ANZ still has capital room. Its common equity tier 1 ratio — a key balance-sheet buffer — stood at 12.15% at Dec. 31, and the bank said credit quality remained resilient. Hard proof comes on May 1. 3
