Westpac ditches plans to sell Pacific businesses

The news: Westpac has given up on plans to divest its Fiji and Papua New Guinea businesses, more than two years after a planned sale to Kina Securities was denied by PNG's competition watchdog.

The numbers: Westpac won't post full-year 2023 results until 6 November, but in 1H23 Westpac Pacific loan balances were up 2% to $1.4 billion on the previous half, while deposits rose 3% to $2.7 billion. The original sale was for a price up to $420 million. WBC shares were trading 0.48% lower at 10:00am AEDT, fetching $20.95.

The context: In December 2020 Westpac announced the sale of Westpac Fiji and Westpac’s 89.91% stake in Westpac Bank PNG Limited to Kina Securities for up to $420 million, to focus on its Australian and NZ businesses. PNG's Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) denied the sale in in July 2021, saying the deal would "limit national economic progress", the Australian Financial Review reported at the time. Westpac and Kina Bank, a PNG bank established in 1985, later agreed to scrap the deal.