Business Description:
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC) is Australia's oldest banking and financial services group, with a significant banking franchise in Australia and NZ in retail, corporate and institutional sectors.

Strategy Analysis:
Group strategy is anchored in the longstanding commitment to conservatively manage risk across all areas of business, following the near-death experience in the early 1990s. WBC´s customer-focused strategy aims to capture an increasing share of business from its Australian and New Zealand banking and wealth management customer base leveraging multi-brands. WBC established itself as an integrated financial services group in the early 2000s with the successful expansion into wealth management, acquiring Rothschild, BT Financial Services and Hastings. WBC diversified domestically by acquiring St George Bank in 2008, activating its regional banking strategy and providing access to a broader customer base and more exciting growth options. WBC's strong operational discipline, quality assets and diversified funding base provide a good platform to leverage market share gains achieved in the midst of a global financial crisis. Credit market uncertainty stifled competition from smaller banks, foreign banks and non-bank lenders, allowing WBC to press its scale advantage over weaker competitors and capture market share. The acquisition of St George Bank significantly increased scale and the re-launch of the Bank of Melbourne brand in July 2011 further strengthens the multi-brand approach. Westpac Banking Corporation reported NPAT up 10% to $6.99bn for the year ended 30 September 2011, reflecting the previously announced impact of the tax consolidation adjustment from the St.George merger. This one-off adjustment was excluded from cash earnings. Revenues from ordinary activities were $16.91bn, in line with last year. Diluted EPS was 223.6 cents compared to 207.1 cents last year. The net operating cash outflow was $12.01bn compared to an inflow of $468m in the pcp. The final dividend declared was 80 cents, taking the full year dividend to 156 cents compared with 139 cents last year. Looking ahead, in FY12 the company will step up its strategy implementation work, building on the solid foundation laid in recent years. This will include: taking multi-brand to the next level, sharpening brand differentiation while leveraging the scale of shared technology and support platforms; and taking the next step in the company's productivity agenda, driving simplification and standardisation across its operations and implementing new sourcing arrangements.