MELBOURNE, March 14, 2026, 09:56 AEDT
ANZ Group Holdings finished Friday’s session up 0.49% at A$37.20, with traders positioning for a potential rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia on March 17.
It’s a key point for ANZ, still working to persuade investors that CEO Nuno Matos’ sweeping changes amount to more than just cost-cutting. First-quarter cash profit surged 17% to A$1.94 billion in February as expenses dropped 8%. If official rates keep climbing, that could give another lift to ANZ’s net interest margin—the spread between loan earnings and funding costs.
The move on Friday had the feel of a sector-wide play rather than a stampede for ANZ shares alone. Commonwealth Bank tacked on 1.26%, NAB was up 1.53%, and Westpac picked up 1.11%. ANZ, meanwhile, stayed under that record A$40.20 mark from its February profit update.
One update on the corporate front: ANZ on March 12 named Tammy Medard as its new Group Executive, Business & Private Bank, effective May 1. She takes over from Clare Morgan. Matos described Medard as an “experienced and customer-focused business banker.” ANZ
The bank moved up its 2026 half-year results release to May 1—six days earlier than planned. Interim dividend dates have been adjusted as well. Shareholders now get an earlier look at whether Matos’ reorganisation is taking hold.
This week’s policy tone has shifted sharply. Economists at Westpac, NAB, and Commonwealth Bank are now projecting a 25-basis-point increase to 4.1% on March 17, Reuters reported, after RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser flagged the risk that climbing oil prices could revive inflation. “The balance of probabilities has shifted,” said Belinda Allen, an economist at Commonwealth Bank. Reuters
ANZ’s net interest margin in the December quarter edged up to 1.56%, a 0.02 percentage point lift from the previous half’s quarterly average. Last month, Jefferies analyst Andrew Lyons called attention to what he saw as “the real test”: whether ANZ can keep that margin while returning to system housing growth. Reuters reported the bank continues to trail its biggest rivals in mortgage market share, sitting around 14%. Reuters
The trade isn’t moving in just one direction. Brent crude finished above $103 on Friday, shaken up by the Middle East conflict. Deutsche Bank economist Phil O’Donaghoe now sees a rate hike as the base case, but he also flagged that a sharper escalation could yet push the RBA to hit pause.
ANZ is still ranked as Australia’s fourth-biggest bank by market cap, sticking close to sector peers in terms of share performance. Investors are now looking to May 1—that’s when the numbers will show if the bank’s tighter cost controls and higher rates are starting to stick.
