St George rises above
St George Bank has defied market volatility and other factors to be in a position today to reveal a 12 per cent increase in unaudited cash profit to $1,073 million for the 10 months to July 31.
St George chief executive Paul Fegan said the result had been achieved against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment and that the bank continued to perform well with strong growth across its core businesses and product lines.
He said that he was particularly pleased that the bank had completed 100 per cent of its 2008 term wholesale funding requirements and had already raised $3.3 billion of the estimated $11 billion to $12 billion term wholesale funding requirements for 2009.
However, the bank was not entirely immune from the market volatility with Fegan reporting that managed funds balances had fallen 15.6 per cent with a 4.4 per cent decline to $42 billion having occurred since the end of March.
He said that Asgard remained in the top four for net flows and this represented a solid performance given the disruption in investment markets.
Fegan said the bank remained on track to meeting its earnings per share growth target of 8 to 10 per cent for the 2008 financial year, albeit that this target excluded the impact of hedging and non-trading derivatives volatility and significant items and assumed a reasonably sound economic environment and no further one-off material credit losses.
Recommended for you
The new financial year has got off to a strong start in adviser gains, helped by new entrants, after heavy losses sustained in June.
Michael McCorry, chief investment officer at BlackRock Australia, has detailed how investors are reconsidering their 60/40 portfolios as macro uncertainty highlight the benefits of liquid alternatives.
Having reset its market focus to high-net-worth advisers, Praemium’s administration solution has been selected by Bell Potter in a deal that increases the platform's funds under administration by $6 billion.
High transition rates from financial advisers have helped Netwealth’s funds under administration rise by $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter of FY25.
