A demerger of the banking business from Suncorp group, or an outright sale of Suncorp Bank, is back on the horizon.
The AFR’s Street Talk column reported yesterday “Suncorp Group is making a fresh push to spin-off or sell its banking unit” and that it hired investment bank Barrenjoey to advance this work.
A sale of Suncorp Bank has long been the subject of speculation, with Macquarie Bank, AMP, Bank of Queensland and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank all mooted as merger partners.
Of the major banks, ANZ might be in the running.
Suncorp’s banking and wealth division made a cash profit of A$200 million in the six months to December 2021 – an increase of 5 per cent over the previous corresponding period but 13 per cent down on the June half result.
The division contributed more than 50 per cent of Suncorp’s total earnings, as insurance earnings were hit by lower investment returns and higher natural hazard costs.
In May, Suncorp reported that it returned to above system growth in mortgages in February and March, but that household deposit growth for the March quarter was below system.
The bank had total loans and advances of $59 billion at the end of the March quarter and a capital ratio of 9.3 per cent.