Westpac NZ highlights impairments in result 

Source: ONE NewsWestpac bank

Westpac New Zealand says it was a tough year of operation with a trebling of impairment charges denting cash earnings.

For the year to September 30 2009, the bank's cash earnings were $236 million, down 50% from the same period last year.

Westpac New Zealand CEO George Frazis says impairment charges, up $402 million to $572 million, were mostly related to commercial property exposures.

There was some upwards movement in core earnings (operating profit before income tax and impairments) which rose 4% to $901 million. This was driven by a 7% increase in net interest income and a 5% rise in loan balances.

Frazis says the modest growth reflected what had been a tough year for the New Zealand economy.

Also up 4% was net operating income of $1.64 billion.

The bank saw an increase of 20,000 customers during the year and deposits were up 6% to $28.8 million.

Frazis says the overall results were disappointing but initiatives undertaken in the second half of the financial year has put the bank on good footing.

"I'm confident that the significant work done on priority areas within the bank sets us up well for sustainable growth within an economy that is showing signs of recovery," he says.

Westpac Banking Corporation's full year net profit , also released on Wednesday, was $AU3.446 billion ($NZ4.31 billion).