Commonwealth Bank reveals $45m hit from Bankwest restructure plan
Commonwealth Bank closed the final remaining metropolitan Bankwest branch in Mandurah at the end of last year as it shifted the 130-year-old Western Australian financial institution to a fully-digital model.
Markets were told on Tuesday the price tag of that restructure had lifted by $45m, which will be reflected in CBA's annual results due next week.
The extra expenses were driven by the cost of 'transitioning of Bankwest to a digital bank and the transition of Bankwest business banking to CBA', investors were told.
The digital-only plan was announced in March last year and was expected to cost 350 jobs. About 60 branches were closed or rebranded as CBA — mostly in regional areas.
Commonwealth also announced an extra $85m had been spent on customer remediation, including for Kiwi subsidiary bank ASB.
The company did not further clarify those costs but had previously reported ABS was hit by a class action in New Zealand over consumer finance law compliance failures.
The full $130m provision will weigh on the company's operating results.
Shares in CBA lifted 0.9 per cent to be $176.50 just befor midday.
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