WBC - Westpac

[macduffy]

There is probably a distinction being made between assets which form part of the business - the interest in Visa; minority interests in other banks, finance co's etc - and non-trading fixed assets such as surplus or redundant branch properties, motor vehicles, equipment etc. Is it possible to separate these in your analysis, Snoopy?

[Snoopy]

There is probably a distinction being made between assets which form part of the business - the interest in Visa; minority interests in other banks, finance co's etc - and non-trading fixed assets such as surplus or redundant branch properties, motor vehicles, equipment etc. Is it possible to separate these in your analysis, Snoopy?

Prior to FY2015, there was a section in the Annual Report called 'Property Plant and Equipment'. This neatly detailed acquisitions and disposals during the year (See Note 13, AR2014) . Westpac owned only around 2% of the property they occupied back then (AR2014, p124).

In AR2015 basic figures like 'depreciation of property' are listed in the company expenses. But there is none of the detail that was in prior reports. Nothing on acquisitions or disposals. 'Non interest income' has a line which reads 'Net gain on Disposal of Assets'. But there is no breakdown of what these assets were. They could have been interests in companies (like VISA), or surplus premises. The only way I can fill in the gap is if something is mentioned in the commentary section of the annual report, or a presentation to shareholders.

I don't want to get too hung up on this because relative to the whole Westpac operation, these items are small. However, it is quite on the cards that Westpac might choose to sell something that is not small. And for consistency, I would like to get this process right. Thanks for your suggestions. I will keep my eyes open.

SNOOPY