ANZ shares gain as Morgans lifts target price on job cuts
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Morgans analysts have upgraded their position on ANZ’s shares after the bank announced restructure plans that are estimated to incur a pre-tax restructuring charge of $560 million. The stock made gains in morning trade.
The numbers: At 10:29am AEST, shares in ANZ had lifted 1.5% to $33.38.
Morgans analysts lifted their 12-month target price from $26.84 to $29.24 and improved its rating on the stock from ‘sell’ to ‘trim’.
The context: On Tuesday, the bank announced it would cut 3,500 full-time equivalent staff by September 2026 and will reduce engagements with consultants and other third parties, affecting around 1,000 contractors.
The bank expects the change to incur a pre-tax restructuring charge of about $560 million in the second half of 2025, however it has made no comment on the cost savings it expects to generate.
Morgans analyst Nathan Lead expects the reduction in full-time equivalent staff should deliver “an annual cost reduction roughly equivalent to the 2H25 restructuring charge”, based on the bank’s 1H25 result.
Lead also said he expects variable costs to decline along with the staff cuts, such as through reduced technology licensing, “albeit these are likely to be less material than wages”.
What they said: “While [ANZ] may have the lowest trading multiples amongst its domestic major bank peers, we view ANZ as being relatively more complex due to its larger exposures to institutional (including relatively volatile markets) and international (particularly NZD and USD) activities and greater reliance on wholesale and term deposit funding,” Morgans said.
The source: Morgans research
