The Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price is 0.3% higher at $26.53 today as the wider S&P/ ASX200 (ASX: XJO) lifts 0.7% on the back of a strong overnight session for U.S. markets including the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.
Unfortunately, ANZ Bank shares are still down around 6% (excluding the beneficial impact of $1.60 per share in dividends paid) over the last 12 months in some disappointing returns for investors.
This is especially so when you consider that the bank announced today that it has bought back around $3 billion worth of shares (108.7 million) over the last 12 months which represents 3.7% of the capital on issue when the buyback commenced.
In theory a large buyback should support a stock price, but it appears the headwinds from the Royal Commission, rising costs, and falling house prices have still lead to more selling than buying.
Today the bank also flagged that it expects to complete the sale of its life insurance business to Zurich by May 2019. This event could see further capital returns on the proviso, among other things, that the group's capital adequacy meets regulatory requirements.
Elsewhere among the big banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is up 0.5% to $71.47 today, while Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) is up 0.7% to $26.52.
