Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

ANZ mega profit puts shareholders before kiwis

For immediate release
Thursday 23 October 2008

ANZ National mega profit ($1.163 billion) puts shareholders before New Zealanders


Bank workers’ union Finsec says ANZ National’s billion dollar plus profit announced today is excessive in the current economic environment and favours shareholders over customers, staff and the local economy.

“ANZ National’s profit is produced on the back of high interest rates, jobs being offshored to India, the lowest real annual pay settlement for staff in years, excessive sales targets that push unnecessary debt upon customers, and company tax cuts. Shareholders are getting a great deal at the expense of New Zealanders,” said Andrew Campbell, Finsec Campaigns Director.

“The bank is sending around 500 good New Zealand jobs to India and cutting staff numbers in ANZ branches. This coupled with sending their massive profits offshore is actually adding to New Zealand’s economic woes and is bad corporate citizenry,” said Campbell.

Campbell said the large increase in provisions for bad debt pointed to issues with sales targets and customers not being able to meet their debt burden.

“In the current environment most bank customers can ill afford to increase their debt levels and pay high interest rates. ANZ National is acting like the recession and credit crisis isn’t happening by maintaining targets for staff at levels comparable to twelve months ago,” said Campbell.

Campbell said that New Zealand’s big banks need to seriously rethink their pre-crisis selling methods, and suspend or significantly reduce their system of sales targets.

“ANZ National’s profit is further evidence that any underwriting of the banks’ wholesale borrowing needs to come with fair lending and other conditions attached. At the same time they are sending big profits overseas they cut staff, take tax payer funded tax cuts and then expect the tax payer to give them a blank cheque to underwrite their business,” said Campbell.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On How Climate Change Threatens Cricket‘s Future

Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else and complaining that he's inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” - which is how most of us would describe his own coalition agreements, 100-Day Plan, and backdated $3 billion handout to landlords... More


 
 
Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More


Green Party: Petition To Save Oil & Gas Ban

“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.