Australia's number two lender Westpac has reported first-quarter unaudited cash earnings of $2.04 billion, with natural disaster insurance claims rising and mortgage delinquencies edging higher.
Westpac did not give a comparison figure for the same quarter last year, but in the six months to March 2018 it brought in cash earnings of $4.25 billion, implying a quarterly figure of about $2.13 billion.
The lender's latest quarterly cash earnings included an impairment charge of $204 million and $30 million in insurance claims for Sydney hailstorms.
It also flagged an additional $35 million in expected claim costs arising from the Queensland floods in the second quarter.
Statutory net profit for the three months ended December 31 came in at $1.95 billion, the lender said in a statement.
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The Sydney-based bank's common equity tier-1 capital ratio dipped to 10.4 per cent at the end of December from 10.6 per cent at the end of September.
The lender also said that Australian mortgage delinquencies were 4 basis points higher over the quarter.
Moody's forecast in December that the asset quality of major Australian banks will weaken moderately in 2019 on the back of higher home loan delinquencies.
Westpac is highly exposed to the residential property market and could see a rise in its stressed assets as soft wage growth coupled with rising borrowing costs make it difficult for borrowers to cover principal and interest payments.
