Westpac Banking Corp has lifted its full year statutory profit six per cent to $8.01 billion.
Cash profit rose three per cent from a year earlier to $7.82 billion – it was the slowest rise since 2009.
Chief executive Brian Hartzer said the growth was driven by good performance in other industries.
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“Australian retail and business banking has been the key driver of performance,” chief executive Brian Hartzer said.
“All divisions continued to grow their businesses and are in good shape.
“However, some market headwinds contributed to a softer performance in our wealth and institutional businesses.”
The bank will pay a fully franked final dividend of 94 cents per share.
Australian banks faced tighter regulation this year, amid efforts to secure the industry against international financial pressures.
The ‘big four’ – ANZ, NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank – revealed plans in August to raise $16 billion to shelter from any future economic downturns.
All four have now released their full year results.
In 2015, CommBank reported a $9.1 billion profit, while ANZ and NAB revealed $7.2 billion and $5.8 billion respectively.
Across the banks, profit margins, which compare net income and revenue, were also down.
Profit margins are a good measure of financial health.
Westpac net interest margin was down from 2.22 per cent in 2010, to 2.08 per cent in 2015. National Australia Bank dropped from 2.25 per cent to 1.87 per cent in the same timeframe, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The results were released one day before the Reserve Bank of Australia met to revise interest rates.
Analysts estimated a 44 per cent chance of rates falling to record lows.
– with AAP
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