© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian looks at his phone as he walks past a logo for Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp located outside a branch in central Sydney, Australia, November 5, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo/File Photo
(Reuters) – Australia’s no.3 lender Westpac Banking (NYSE:) Corp on Monday reported a 1.4% drop in annual profit, hurt by pressure on margins from intense competition in home lending in the first half and a charge related to the sale of its life insurance unit.
Cash earnings came in at A$5.28 billion ($3.38 billion) for year ended September, compared with A$5.35 billion a year earlier and a Morgan Stanley (NYSE:) estimate of A$5.23 billion.
Westpac declared a final dividend of 64 Australian cents per share, compared with Australian 60 cents last year.
($1 = 1.5610 Australian dollars)
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