- Rising wage costs and higher investment spending by Australian banks pose headwinds that could potentially impact the sector's earnings by up to 10% in the near term, analysts at Macquarie said on Friday, downgrading their sector rating to "underweight".
Over the past two years, Australian banks have benefited first from a property boom on the back of Covid restrictions and then from interest rate hikes totalling 400 basis points.Macquarie, an investment bank with a small retail banking operation, said banks' cost bases are likely to remain under pressure as more than 70% of their expenses related to personnel.
Macquarie added that it expects banks' expenses to grow by around 1% to 7% in fiscal 2023 through to fiscal 2025, with third-biggest lender Westpac Banking Corp seen being impacted more than its peers.