WBC - Westpac Banking Corporation

[RTM]

After todays efforts, hopefully the chart trend is changing upwards. Morningstar has it as a buy....

Motley Fool as well.

[Waltzing]

yes only has to get back to what ? got to be the bank with the most crooks in it in the south pacific or is there another one?

hopefully they have clean the decks and can start to rebuild.

be interesting to see the results of the class actions.

[Arbitrage]

Quote from Sydney Morning Herald 15 Dec 2021 reporting on the WBC AGM: "Westpac chairman John McFarlane says he shares the intense frustration of shareholders over the bank’s poor results and has vowed to revive its performance, as investors delivered a hefty protest vote over its executive bonuses." Directors and Managers get well paid to perform. Haven't WBC problems been going on for years? Not only that but shareholders had a crack at them over funding fossil fuel expansions, and the banks attitude to climate change. This bank has shrunk to the smallest of the big banks. Being the oldest oz bank it seems like dinosaurs have control. This is not just about financial performance but also customer and public perception. Mr Chairman if you are reading this, I am happy to be contracted short term to sort the bank out (on an hourly rate to be negotiated but no bonus required). You have the power. To not use it to straighten up the bank and push it into the 21st century like the other banks have is "intensely frustrating" for shareholders. This could be done quickly hence my offer of a short contract. No job would be safe.

[dabsman]

Glad the buy back is all tidied up now. Looks like a pretty good result for our cousins in the west island. Good pop today in share price. Hopefully back to ANZ's price in next 12 months.

[Grimy]

Just as long as ANZ's price isn't back to WBC's! But certainly nice positive movement today.

[Waltzing]

this paper is an ocker shocker ...

no want it to stay a shocker as we created a fabulous money go round for tax ... what a generator of losses back to un taxed gains..

half the ACA team said no no no and the legal beagle team went yes yes yes...

should have been a tax legal beagle after all... runs in the family...

[bottomfeeder]

I am a retired accountant, and while I understand the background surrounding this, the actual figures have gone above me. So while the price is up and I am way ahead after my purchases not so long ago, I am selling on the way up.

[Scrunch]

I am a retired accountant, and while I understand the background surrounding this, the actual figures have gone above me. So while the price is up and I am way ahead after my purchases not so long ago, I am selling on the way up.

As long as you don't have a rental property and get caught up in the messy edges of the NZ tax system, its pretty simple. Income = salary, interest (if any) and dividends (if any). Essentially nothing is deductable, although donations can be claimed separately. As long as your intention is to hold shares for the long-term, there isn't a capital gains tax. Australia doesn't have this same clean structure. Their top marginal tax rates are higher (although NZ caught this up somewhat with a 39% rate). They also have capital gains tax on share sale profits. While it decreases to 50% if held for longer than a year, its still there. I hope the calculations below are correct as I don't work with Oz tax. If they are, a long-term shareholder could be looking at a capital gains tax bill exceeding 10% of the current share price. That makes brokerage look like a trivial cost!! Its also means what looks nuts from a NZ tax perspective had Australian shareholders over-subscribing to sell shares at a discount to market.

Westpac's success in getting this deal away is likely to create further similar deals - these may be beneficial from an Oz tax perspective but not a good deal from a Kiwi tax viewpoint (but this isn't tax advice - DYOR).

Lets assume someone in Australia bought WBC many years ago at A$10. They are also now on the $180k+ income. This means their marginal tax rate is 45%. If they were to sell on-market at say $22, their capital gains tax bill is A$2.70/sharese (The sale creates a A$12 capital gain. $12*45%*50% long-term capital gains discount). With tax payable of 12% of the sale price, selling is a last resort and only occurs in years when an offsetting capital loss exists. Westpac's deal provided a chance to improve on this market sale equation.

[dabsman]

Most likley answered here before but I'll ask again. If I shunt WBC shares to the ASX, the only difference is the liquidity (and an additional 5% margin with ASB)? When divvy is paid we still get the limited imputation credits being NZ taxpayers?

[peat]

So this is a thing now
Westpac’s estimated Australian financed emissions intensity (kgCO2-e per $ lent1)