AUSTRALIAN LENDER WESTPAC'S FIRST-QUARTER PROFIT RISES ON LOAN, DEPOSIT GROWTH

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Westpac Banking Corp said on Friday its first-quarter underlying net profit rose 6% versus the average of the previous two quarters, driven by solid growth across customer deposits and loans.

The country's third-largest lender by market capitalisation reported unaudited net profit of A$1.9 billion ($1.35 billion) for the three months ended December 31.

Lenders in Australia have been competing to attract borrowers in a low-interest-rate environment, crimping their net interest margins, a key profitability metric reflecting the spread between loan yields and deposit costs.

For the quarter ended December 31, Westpac's core net interest margin slipped 3 basis points to 1.79%.

That was offset by growth in its deposits and loan book. Westpac added A$12 billion in customer deposits and A$22 billion in new loans during the quarter, helping cushion competitive pressure on margins.

"Continued operating momentum drove solid customer deposit and loan growth," the lender said in an exchange filing.

Its common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a key measure of spare cash, stood at 12.3% at year-end, down 23 basis points from September-end.

($1 = 1.4102 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

2026-02-12T21:02:59Z