Bank Responsible for Mass Layoffs Among Australians Faces $1.1 Billion Financial Setback

The ANZ logo outside an office in Melbourne.
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In a recent update, ANZ has alerted investors to an anticipated financial setback exceeding $1.1 billion, which is poised to affect its upcoming half-year financial disclosures. The bank, part of Australia’s big four, unveiled today that its profits for the latter half of 2025 will be significantly impacted by various factors, which cumulatively amount to $1.109 billion after accounting for taxes.

Among the issues weighing on ANZ’s financial performance is the hefty cost of redundancies. The bank estimates this expense to reach $585 million, though it will be somewhat alleviated to $414 million post-tax considerations.

ANZ says its bottom line next months will be impacted by $1.1 billion in “significant” costs. (Eamon Gallagher)

Earlier, when ANZ announced these workforce reductions, it assured that roles directly interacting with customers would experience minimal disruption. ANZ’s Chief Executive, Nuno Matos, emphasized the necessity of these changes, stating they are crucial for the bank’s continued success amid a swiftly changing and fiercely competitive banking sector.

“We are operating in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive banking environment,” Matos remarked at that time, underscoring the strategic nature of the bank’s decisions.

“We are operating in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive banking environment,” he said at the time.

“As we continue our strategic review, we are eliminating duplication and complexity, stopping work that doesn’t support our priorities, and sharpening our focus on improving our non-financial risk management practices across the bank.”

ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos. (Arsineh Houspian)
Also included in ANZ’s $1.1 billion blow is $271 million in fines and costs for years of unconscionable conduct, including failing to respond to customer hardship notices and making misleading statements about interest rates.

The bank agreed to pay a record $240 million fine for the conduct after it was sued by financial watchdog ASIC.

The Federal Court still needs to approve that fine, and ANZ said this morning it had also accrued $31 million in costs related to the matter.

Following this morning’s announcement, ANZ’s share price fell by a little over half a per cent to $36.65, although that’s still far higher than the roughly $33 it was trading at before September’s job cuts were revealed.

The bank will post its half-year earnings on November 10.

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