New ANZ chief executive will face challenges

Shayne Elliott.
Shayne Elliott.
The appointment of Shayne Elliott as chief executive of ANZ Banking Group was a logical and largely expected move but his tenure would not be without challenges, Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said yesterday.

ANZ announced New Zealander Mr Elliott, the son of a builder and who grew up in Te Atatu South, would replace retiring chief executive Mike Smith on January 1.

Mr McIntyre said the appointment of Mr Elliott should be well received by the market.

''Shayne has deep knowledge of ANZ's business, including the division which faces the most headwinds - international and institutional banking. He also has extensive banking experience and his elevation to chief executive should ensure a relatively smooth transition.

''While we agree ANZ's current position is stronger than when Mike Smith was appointed chief executive in 2007, the goal should now be to monetise the expanded network over the next few years.''

One of the incoming chief executive's stated priorities was to invest in the group's digital capability, Mr McIntyre said.

At face value, that might be a challenge with ANZ already having the largest capitalised software balance in Australasia.

But Mr Elliott believed the ongoing investment was within the parameters of the existing investment budget and the capitalised software balance should start to level off from there.

For ANZ to turn around its share price underperformance, the group needed to prove to the market Asia was a high-growth, not just low-return-on-equity, business, Mr McIntyre said.

That required not just stronger revenue growth from Asia but also reasonable performance on credit quality.

Low interest rates and global quantitative easing had hurt the ANZ's ''super regional'' strategy in recent years.

 


Shayne Elliott

2012-present: ANZ chief financial officer

2009-12: ANZ institutional chief executive

2006-09: EFT-Hermes chief operating officer

2003-06: Citigroup Global Transaction Services Asia Pacific chief executive

2001-03: Citigroup corporate bank Australia/New Zealand chief executive 


 

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