Even as he tries to chart a path towards growth, ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos is still busy exorcising the ghosts of CEOs past.
“It’s about putting our house in shape,” Matos said on Monday, as he fielded a torrent of questions from analysts on the challenges ahead while handing down a weak headline cash profit of $5.8 billion for the past year.
Only six months into the role, Matos can take little credit or blame for the result — even if his restructure was largely responsible for $1.1 billion in writedowns.
Instead, it’s the actions (or inaction) of Matos' predecessor Shayne Elliott and his executive team that are largely imprinted on this result, a reality the board acknowledged by docking nearly all of their short-term bonuses.
