Latest news and insights on banking and finance in Australia and New Zealand, as delivered in the daily 7am Banking Day email news service (subscribe or take out a free trial).
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Syndication fanfare delayed for Foxtel
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22 March 2004 12:00amDigital pay television is having a rocky debut month in Australia: consumers are sceptical; the installers are striking for more pay, and now the media moguls are having some trouble selling their story to lenders as well. » read more »
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HSBC winning market share
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22 March 2004 12:00amHSBC is winning market share in Australia, with the bank increasing loans and advances by 26 per cent, to $9.4 billion in the year to December 2003. » read more »
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SuperBank losses
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22 March 2004 12:00amSt George Bank New Zealand, operator of the SuperBank brand in New Zealand incurred a loss of NZ$1.4 million in the three months to December 2003, on top of accumulated losses of NZ$14.2 million in the ten and a half months to September 2003. » read more »
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Investment housing finance dives
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17 March 2004 12:00amThe tide may be turning in the home loan market, with a 14 per cent decline in the value in housing finance for investors in January 2004, and a 23 per cent fall over the last three months, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Total finance, excluding refinancing and investor construction, fell 20 per cent over the last three months. » read more »
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Brokers winning the distribution war
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17 March 2004 12:00amThe slackening rate of growth in housing finance may be no surprise, but the changing dynamic in the market may sharpen the struggle between lenders originating loans in their own right through bank branches, and the mortgage brokers and aggregators that have become such a dominant force in the market. » read more »
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NAB restricts investment home loans
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17 March 2004 12:00amOne change in National Australia Bank in recent weeks, which might or might not be derivative of the foreign exchange option losses uncovered in January, is that the bank's taken a further step back down the risk curve in the home loan market in Australia. » read more »
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First Mac, AMS diverge on low doc loans
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17 March 2004 12:00amA pair of mortgage-backed bonds marketed to investors over the last couple of days highlights the divergence in approach between lenders seeking funding in the domestic and offshore markets, at least with respect to the significance of low documentation loans. » read more »
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GE lifts share of mortgage insurance market
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17 March 2004 12:00amThe prospectus filed by General Electric for the spin off of GE's mortgage insurance and life insurance business into a new company, Genworth, provides a couple of glimpses into the business of the GE's mortgage insurance business in Australia. » read more »
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St George, Foodstuffs top up SuperBank
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17 March 2004 12:00amSt George Bank will top up the capital of its SuperBank subsidiary in New Zealand by NZ$15.3 million, bringing the total capital invested to NZ$58.3 million. This journal's assuming the capital top is NZ$15.3 million. What St George actually disclosed yesterday was that it would issue NZ$7.65 million in perpetual notes to Foodstuffs Retail Financial Services, and Foodstuffs has an agreement to provide half the equity funding for the bank, so presumably St George will tip in the same level of funding. » read more »
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Kiwibank turns to profit
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15 March 2004 12:00amKiwibank are a modest lot. The bank made a profit for the first time in the December 2003 quarter, and didn't even brag about this in the media release, or otherwise help the local commentators notice this milestone. » read more »
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Westpac sees strength in housing credit
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15 March 2004 12:00amHousing finance for owner occupiers dropped by eight per cent by number, and nine per cent by value, in January 2004, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an outcome that the economics team at Westpac described as "overachieving" for the Reserve Bank of Australia, and continues the downward momentum in housing finance. » read more »
