BoQ results disappoint, CEO Rose warns of tough times ahead

The Australian 12:00am April 12, 2019

Joyce Moullakis

Bank of Queensland interim chief Anthony Rose is adamant the lender is “staring into” a tough period ahead, as he warned earnings would not improve in the second half and declared the lowest half-year dividend in about five years.

The Brisbane-based bank disappointed investors yesterday with an interim profit that was weighed on by factors, including an underperforming retail bank, issues with its owner-manager branches and higher costs.

Mr Rose told The Australian while there were operational challenges for BoQ, he didn’t expect the May 18 federal election to curb already softer lending volumes across housing and business loans.

“I don’t think it tends to have an impact on lending,” he said.

But BoQ and its regional peers are using the election to step up their combined and separate lobbying against heavier capital requirements for smaller banks.

Mr Rose said the bank had made submissions to both politi cal parties to stress the importance of competition in the sector and levelling the playing field on capital requirements.

BoQ’s cash profit for the six months ended February 28 fell 8 per cent to $167 million, slightly below market expectations.

The bank warned, though, that second-half earnings were “unlikely to improve” form the preceding six months. That was coupled with a 4c per share cut to the interim dividend which came in at 34c, fully franked.

BoQ’s shares tumbled 4.9 per cent to $8.95 yesterday, marking the biggest one-day drop in almost two months after an earnings downgrade in February.

Fund managers and analysts said the result underscored the challenges facing smaller lenders in a slowing credit growth environment and raised the spectre that regional banks may again restart talks about mergers and acquisitions.

“A lot of the market expected a dividend cut, it (the market’s reaction) is more about the outlook,” Regal Funds Management’s Mark Nathan said of the result, adding that concerns about the bank’s owner-manager model and capital costs ensured caution on BoQ.

“Those are the sorts of things that are weighing on BoQ and certainly they are weighing on the other regional banks.”

On potential for consolidation in the sector, Mr Nathan added: “Regional banks, because of their scale, will continue to struggle to have very competitive cost bases.

“I’d be surprised if every regional (bank) hasn’t run the numbers on the others.” Citigroup analysts were of a similar view. “Flat earnings into the second half of 2019 are likely to lead to consensus downgrades,” they said. “This further raises the prospect of regional banking consolidation in our view as the regionals struggle.”

BoQ’s net interest margin, a measure of loan profitability, fell three basis points in the half to 1.94 per cent as it paid out more commissions to mortgage brokers.

In the retail bank, housing loan growth in the Virgin Money unit was far offset by negative results from BoQ’s own loan channel.

Mr Rose said the bank was undertaking several measures, upgrading technology, and changing the pay model for its owner-managed branches in an attempt to revive performance.

The loan impairment expense rose to $30m, although BoQ said much of the increase related to accounting changes. There were “no areas” of concern in loan arrears, despite a seasonal uptick in the bank’s finance division.

BoQ’s business division posted loan growth of 8 per cent annualised, but cash earnings in the unit fell 5 per cent. The financing unit — which covers equipment, dealer and structured programs — saw 13 per cent annualised growth.

The retail arm saw a sharp 12 per cent decline in cash earnings.

Mr Rose cautioned of short-term headwinds, including additional compliance costs stemming from the Hayne royal commission, but he is optimistic longer term. “We see the upside beyond that (short-term),” he said.

BoQ’s earnings-per-share dropped 10 per cent to 41.8c.