It may not feel like your traditional end of year right now, but we've just seen the end of FY2022 and the turn of the new 2023 financial year. FY2022 was not kind to ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), no way around it. Between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022, the ASX 200 lost a nasty 10.19% of its value. But what of the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price?
As an ASX 200 big four bank, Westpac is a major player on the ASX share market. In fact, Westpac is currently the fifth-largest share in the ASX 200 index. So it tends to have a significant influence on the entire market.
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How did the Westpac share price go over FY2022?
Westpac shares started FY2022 at $25.81 each. Last Thursday, the ASX bank closed at just $19.50. That means Westpac lost 24.45% from its share price over FY2022. Not exactly an inspiring performance, one could argue. Especially considering how badly the bank underperformed the ASX 200 as well. Most of these losses occurred last month, which saw Westpac shares lose 18% of their value over June alone.
It's not as though Westpac was just mirroring the ASX banking sector either. FY2022 wasn't a good year for ASX 200 banks overall. But consider the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price. CBA shares did fall over FY2022. But only by 9.5%, which makes Westpac's 24.45% drop look even more painful.
The only other big four bank that came close to Westpac's dismal performance was Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ). It fell 21.85% over the financial year just gone. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) defied the trend of its ASX 200 banking peers. It actually rose by 4.46% over FY2022.
But back to Westpac. As is the case with all ASX banking shares, Westpac did fork out some hefty dividends over FY2022 that would have helped ease the pain of the 24.45% drop.
The bank paid out a total of $1.21 in fully-franked dividends per share over FY2022. That gives Westpac shares a trailing yield of 6.08% on current pricing. So that knocks around 6% off of the share price's losses over the financial year.
Is Westpac a buy today?
So, what's next for Westpac in FY2023? Well, as we covered earlier this week, broker Citi is expecting big things. This ASX broker has given Westpac shares a 12-month share price target of $29. That would result in a potential upside of more than 45% from where the bank is currently. But we shall have to wait and see if Citi is on the money there.
In the meantime, the current Westpac share price gives this ASX 200 bank a market capitalisation of $69.7 billion.
