ANZ suffers $265m hit over Asia exit

ANZ has taken a major step toward exiting Asian retail banking and wealth management with an agreement to sell businesses in five countries to Singapore’s DBS bank.

Australia’s fourth-largest lender on Monday said DBS will pay book value plus $110 million for assets in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Chief executive Shayne Elliott, who is undoing much of ANZ’s expansion into Asia under predecessor Mike Smith, said the sale represented the bulk of the bank’s regional retail and wealth management businesses – with remaining assets in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines under review.

Mr Elliott said ANZ had not committed to further sales and would not be drawn on a timeline for a possible broader exit.