By Alice Uribe

SYDNEY--Westpac Banking Corp. said its unaudited net profit in the fiscal first quarter was 80% higher on the quarterly average of the second half of fiscal 2021.

The company also announced it would bring forward simplification plans and changes to its operating structure.

Westpac, one of the smallest of Australia's major banks by market value, recorded an unaudited net profit of 1.82 billion Australian dollars (US$1.30 billion) in the December quarter.

Cash earnings, a measure of profit adjusted for fair value and hedging movements and is the basis for calculating dividend payouts, were A$1.58 billion, up 74% on the quarterly average for the second half of fiscal 2021. When excluding notable items, cash earnings rose by 1%.

Chief Financial officer Michael Rowland said that while the lender had made a sound start to the year the environment was still highly competitive with margins still being pressured.

"Given this, we are bringing forward our simplification plans and changing our operating structure to improve efficiency and move more of our people closer to the customers they support," he said.

The group's closely watched common equity tier 1 capital ratio was 12.2% at the end of December.


Write to Alice Uribe at alice.uribe@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-02-22 1620ET