Macquarie takes advantage of mortgage war ceasefire
The slowdown in intense mortgage competition has lifted Macquarie’s lending growth – one of few bright spots in the financial giant’s otherwise disappointing result – back above the pace of the market.
After justifying a withdrawal from the home loan market in July on the basis that a ferocious battle for refinancing borrowers had crushed net interest margins and led to banks writing loans at a loss, new statistics this week showed that Macquarie Bank had started lifting its market share once again.
Macquarie’s Greg Ward said strong home loan growth was “more of an outcome” from a rationalising mortgage market, rather “than us doing anything different to what we were doing”. Erik Meitzel
Greg Ward, the head of the banking and financial services business, said the market dynamics had shifted, and that the bank could again grow while being “respectful of shareholder equity and the returns shareholders want”.
“There were all sorts of intense activity from the major banks such as cash-backs that we weren’t offering,” Mr Ward, also the deputy managing director of the broader Macquarie Group, said. “There were plenty of aggressive discounts, and we found that we weren’t writing very many home loans.”
“But as that activity moderated, on a comparative basis we look a lot better to borrowers, and so we have seen our volumes increasing again,” he said.
The bank grew its mortgage book 1.3 per cent in September, powering Macquarie’s market share to 5.2 per cent. It has reignited the company’s two-year assault on the home loan market.
Mr Ward said it was “more of an outcome” from a rationalising mortgage market, rather “than us doing anything different to what we were doing”.
The banking and financial services division was a bright
Read more on afr.com
