The ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price rose 4.5% after the banking giant released its 3Q FY26 update.
ANZ shares opened at $36.68, up from their closing value of $36.39 yesterday.
The ANZ share price has remained in the green all day, with investors relieved by a lift in cash profit and net interest margin (NIM).
Investors have been concerned that changes to property taxes announced in the May Budget would weigh heavily on banks.
ANZ disclosed a 12% drop in the value of mortgage applications since the budget, but investors appear to be looking past that today.
ANZ shares reached an intraday high of $38.03, up 4.5%, in late afternoon trading.
The ANZ share price is currently $37.97, up 4.3%, and the sixth-best performer of the ASX 200 on Thursday.
Let's take a closer look at the report.
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ANZ shares among fastest risers today
Here are the highlights of the third-quarter update:
- Operating income was flat at $5,607 million vs. the 1H FY26 quarterly average (six months to 31 March) of $5,602 million
- Unaudited cash profit $1.9 billion, up 1% on the 1H FY26 quarterly average
- Customer deposits $786 billion, up 2% on March quarter 2026
- New loans and advances $846 billion, up 3% on March quarter 2026
- Cash return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 11.54%, down 2 basis points (bps) on the 1H FY26 quarterly average
- CETA ratio of 12.51%, up 12 bps on the March quarter 2026 and up 57 bps on the June quarter 2025
- Net interest margin (NIM) rose from 1.53% to 1.54%
What else happened in 3Q FY26
Regarding its flat revenue, ANZ said that excluding the markets division, net interest income rose 2%.
However, this was offset by a 2% reduction in other operating income.
Markets income was $507 million in 3Q FY26.
Group NIM rose 1 bps to 1.54%, but with markets excluded, it rose 4 bps.
ANZ said its cash profit and RoTE were impacted by a NZD125 million expense provision (pre-tax).
This followed a class action ruling in New Zealand on 5 May, which ANZ has appealed.
ANZ said its expenses increased 1% in 3Q FY26, however, if the NZD125 million provision is excluded, expenses actually fell 3%.
Management said this reflected productivity benefits from a continued focus on simplification and optimising third-party spend.
The bank did not amend the FY26 cost guidance provided with its 1H FY26 results in May.
What did ANZ management say?
ANZ CEO Nuno Matos said the bank remained on track to meet its RoTE and cost-to-Income targets for FY26.
In the quarter, we continued to improve productivity, margins and business volumes, including accelerating growth in business banking and returning home lending to system growth.
Our five immediate priorities are progressing well. Our new leadership team is driving our cultural reset. We are continuing to progress the integration of Suncorp Bank and delivery of the ANZ single customer front-end, and are on track to meet our FY26 year-end completion targets of 57% and 45% respectively.
Our work to reduce duplication and simplify the bank is on track and we remain committed to our full year cost guidance of 5% down
year on year.We remain focused on improving non-financial risk management and are on track to deliver the activities in our Root Cause Remediation Plan.
What's next for ANZ?
ANZ is not the only major lender to disclose a significant decline in the value of home loan applications since the Federal Budget.
Both Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) have also reported a material reduction.
Muddying the picture a bit on home loan trends is ANZ's participation in the 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers from late March.
ANZ said mortgage application value in 3Q FY26 was broadly flat compared with 2Q FY26, however, if the impact of the scheme was excluded, application value declined 5%.
The 12% fall in the value of loan applications since the budget also excludes the impact of the scheme.
There is much anecdotal evidence that the property market has stalled.
The two biggest factors are three interest rate rises in 2026 and the new property taxes.
The changes to negative gearing and capital gains arrangements will begin on 1 July 2027.
Agents and auctioneers say both vendors and buyers are waiting to see if prices fall.
Cotality reported a 0.7% drop in the median national home price in July, the largest monthly fall since December 2022.
ANZ share price snapshot
The ANZ share price has risen 4.2% in the calendar year to date and is up 19.1% over 12 months.
