ANZ Group Holdings Ltd

For the first time in a decade, ANZ underwent a CEO transition Nuno Matos succeeding Shayne Elliot. The outlook for ANZ will depend on two things. First, ANZ Plus, and Second, the integration of Suncorp’s retail arm. ANZ Plus has taken longer than investors anticipated to roll out, but there is hope that it could give the bank a ‘leg up’ compared to its peers. ANZ Plus is 35% cheaper to run compared to older technology systems – savings that can be passed on to customers. By 2029, it is anticipated that the entire retail bank will be on Plus which should be at least 7m customers (6m with ANZ today and 1m with Suncorp). ANZ has copped flack over the slow roll out and the expenses incurred ($8.9bn in FY24) vs the benefit received (which will take some time to accentuate). Onto the acquisition of Suncorp’s retail arm, the reason for this was simple – it wants to turn things around. ANZ was the only Big Four bank to shrink its mortgage book during the height of low interest rates in 2021 and had only 13.1% of the market at that time. The deal saw the onboarding 1.2m customers, 3,000 employees and A$54.6bn in a day. There are other things for investors to consider too including inflationary pressures – which increased expenses by 6% – and that the bank has the biggest exposure of the Big Four to the New Zealand economy which isn’t in the best shape right now.