Australia’s Westpac flags US$950mil profit hit

Westpac said the one-off charge included provisions to pay out customers seeking remediation for wrongly charged fees, and costs associated with the sale of its life insurance unit.

SYDNEY: Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp says it will take a one-off charge of A$1.3bil (US$956mil or RM3.99bil) against its second-half profit after its institutional banking unit quit energy trading, among other reasons.

The country’s second-largest lender by market capitalisation also lowered its earnings outlook, citing “subdued” financial markets.