In a statement on Friday, ANZ said its share buyback announced on 15 January 2018 has been doubled, increasing to $3 billion.
ANZ said the buyback came off the back of receiving $1 billion from the first part of its sale of its life insurance business OnePath.
“The progress of our transformation means we are able to return this surplus capital to shareholders while retaining appropriate flexibility to invest in our business and maintain unquestionably strong capital levels,” said ANZ chief financial officer Michelle Jablko.
According to the statement, ANZ’s Level 2 Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 11.04 per cent as at 31 March 2018.
Source: ANZ
“This would increase by ~56bp on a pro forma basis after adjusting for completion of the buy-back, receipt of the reinsurance proceeds and completion of announced asset sales,” it said.
ANZ sold OnePath to Zurich Financial Services on 12 December last year, a sale that research house Morningstar said was "neutral" for the major bank.
Zurich will retain the OnePath brand following completion of the transaction, which is predicted to be in November this year.
