By Alice Uribe


SYDNEY-- Westpac Banking Corp. said its first-half net profit fell by 5% compared to the same time last year, as competition weighed on the lender's consumer and business units.

The Australian bank said its net profit totaled 3.28 billion Australian dollars (US$2.32 billion) in the six months through March.

Cash earnings--a measure closely tracked by analysts that strips out non-core items such as revenue hedges and treasury shares--fell by 12% to A$3.10 billion.

"The decline in cash earnings over the year was mostly due to competitive pressures on net interest margins and returning to an impairment charge after having benefits last year," said Westpac in regulatory filing.

Directors of the company declared an interim dividend of A$0.61 per share compared to A$0.58 last year.

Consensus forecasts compiled by Visible Alpha and cited by Citi projected Westpac's first-half cash earnings would be A$2.8 billion, with an interim dividend of A$0.59 per share.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-08-22 1803ET