It was a messy result, the broker notes, due to accounting changes, but Westpac’s cash earnings and dividend met the broker’s expectation. Given the difficult climate for retail banking, the broker saw Westpac’s consumer bank performance as an outperformance against peers.
The market had assumed the worst for the Consumer Bank on the back of earlier peer results, thus yesterday’s further share price fall leads the broker to suggest relative share price weakness is not justified. Fears regarding Westpac’s relatively high level of interest-only loans is overblown. The broker retains Add and a $33 target, with Westpac its preferred pick among the majors.
Sector: Banks.
Target price is $33.00.Current Price is $27.11. Difference: $5.89 – (brackets indicate current price is over target). If WBC meets the Morgans target it will return approximately 18% (excluding dividends, fees and charges – negative figures indicate an expected loss).
