Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares could get a boost if the ASX bank share can be successful with the commercial bank side of its business.
On Friday, the bank reported it had hired Clare Morgan as its group executive for its Australian commercial business.
She was hired from S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank share Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) where she was the executive general manager of small business banking.
Morgan will be in charge of the ANZ commercial business in Australia. The team she leads will serve customers ranging from sole proprietors to emerging corporates, as well as private banking clients.
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Why is this appointment so important?
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliot explained the reason why appointing Morgan was important and how integral ANZ sees the commercial side of its business:
Clare is an outstanding leader and I'm confident her business banking experience will be an asset to both ANZ and our customers. This is a significant appointment for ANZ as we continue to transform how we serve our commercial customers through the better use of digital platforms and data.
While banking small businesses has always been core to what we do, it's the right time to increase focus on this market, given it is a significant opportunity for ANZ and the progress we have made in other parts of our business.
Clare joins an experienced team running our major businesses with Antonia Watson leading New Zealand through a period of major change, Maile Carnegie returning Australia Retail to growth and Mark Whelan having transformed Institutional into one of the best run wholesale banking businesses globally.
ANZ is "firing"
Talking to the Australian Financial Review Weekend, Elliot had some positive things to say about how the business is performing. He said:
With the retail in Australia back to growth, ANZ Plus firing and Clare appointed as our new Commercial banking head, our priority now is getting Suncorp Bank approved and ready for integration.
It was also reported that ANZ is targeting up to $2 billion in projected investment spending, and targeting a return on it, as well as actively monitoring the ideas.
Elliot also said that the ASX 200 bank share's number one objective — to restore momentum in home loans — has been fulfilled.
Aside from commercial banking, ANZ is now focused on getting approval for its acquisition of the banking division of Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN).
Where to next for the ANZ share price?
ANZ shares have risen by 8% over the past six months. Amid rising interest rates, the broker Credit Suisse is quite optimistic about where ANZ is headed. A price target is where the broker thinks the share price will be in 12 months. Credit Suisse's price target is $30, a rise of around 23%.
The broker estimates put the ANZ share price at nine times FY23's estimated earnings with a potential grossed-up dividend yield of 9.9%.
