The ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price was out of form in May.
Over the period, the banking giant's shares lost 6% of their value.
This was more than double the decline of the ASX 200 index over the same period.
Why did the ANZ share price tumble?
Investors were selling down the ANZ share price in May amid broad weakness in the banking sector amid concerns over margins, intense home loan competition, and the potential negative impacts of rising interest rates.
This led to all the big four banks ending the month meaningfully lower.
In fact, this weakness even managed to offset a strong half-year result release from the bank early in the month that went down exceptionally well with investors.
In respect to the result, for the six months ended 31 March, ANZ reported record first-half cash earnings of $3,821 million, up 12% on the second half of FY 2022. The result came in ahead of the consensus estimate, with the market expecting cash earnings of $3,769 million for the half.
This allowed the ANZ board to declare a fully franked interim dividend of 81 cents per share, which is up 9.5% over the prior corresponding period.
A strong performance across all business units helped underpinned this growth. CEO Shayne Elliott revealed:
This was a strong financial performance in which all four divisions made a material contribution. The record result was driven by solid revenue growth across the board and the benefits of having a well-diversified business. It was also a direct outcome of our deliberate strategy to simplify, reshape and de-risk the bank, which has allowed us to replace revenue following the disposal of non-core assets.
Given the strength of this result, it was no doubt disappointing to see the ANZ share price tumble in May. Here's hoping that its shares fare better in June.
