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Bendigo and Adelaide Bank yesterday reported a fall in net profit of 17 per cent for the first half of the financial year but emphasises the business remains strong.
Speaking on Lateline last night, group managing director of the bank Rob Hunt said the earnings per share increase of 3 per cent was more indicative of the bank’s underlying performance.
“Given there's a lot of difficulty and pressures on all parts of the economy and our customers, we think that actually reflects the true performance of the bank,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Hunt also commented that the newly-merged entity’s greater access to balance sheet funding placed the bank well for future opportunities.
“This gives us enormous strength because we're not...reliant on those markets [wholesale] that were, I guess, more troublesome.”