By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
May 3 (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp laid out a three-year plan to cut costs on Monday as its first-half cash earnings more than tripled from last year’s plunge.
Australia’s second-largest bank said cash earnings for the six months ended March 31 rose to A$3.54 billion ($2.73 billion), compared with A$993 million last year. This was above a forecast of A$3.28 billion in a Reuters poll.
$1 = 1.2960 Australian dollars Reporting by Rashmi Ashok and Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft
Targets A$8 bln cost base by 2024, smaller head office, branches Result and cost target better thane expected - analysts (Recasts and updates throughout with detail, CEO & analyst comment, share price open)
SYDNEY, May 3 (Reuters) - Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp will close some branches and shift focus to digital banking under a cost-cutting plan unveiled on Monday as it reported that first half cash earnings more than tripled from a year ago.
The country’s second largest bank said costs will initially increase this fiscal year as it sells non-core businesses and beefs up its digital offering, before starting to fall from fiscal 2022.
Asian FX bulls return as dollar slips; short bets on Indian rupee spike
Investors turned bullish on most Asian currencies, a Reuters poll found, as easing bets of a sooner-than-expected hike in U.S. interest rates drove down U.S. Treasury yields and curbed the dollar’s interest rate advantage.
Sentiment towards currencies of export-focused nations with lower COVID-19 cases improved the most, the fortnightly poll of 13 respondents found. Bearish views on the Indian rupee, however, rose sharply as COVID-19 cases surged in the country.
The spike in U.S. Treasury yields last month has reversed course, as worries over a potential acceleration in inflation faded, while the U.S. Federal Reserve also made it clear that it would not hike interest rates anytime soon.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
(Reuters) -Australian oil and gas explorer FAR Ltd said on Wednesday it was certain that Remus Horizons would not proceed with its A$209.6 million ($161.6 million) takeover proposal, after receiving two letters from the private investment firm outlining various issues.
Remus said in the first letter that it would be unable to lodge its bidder’s statement over the coming days, as it recently had its registration as a private investment fund suspended, FAR said in a statement.
In the other letter authored by a different signatory, the private investment firm said the takeover offer was not properly authorised by it, and that the company did not have the funding to complete the takeover and its board would not approve a bidder’s statement, FAR added.
Australia s FAR says $161 6 million Remus buyout bid unlikely to proceed reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.