By Alice UribeSYDNEY--Westpac Banking Corp posted a lower first-quarter net profit driven by the impact of notable items, which the company said would reverse over time. The Australian lender on Monday said that unaudited net profit for the three months through December was 1.5 billion Australian dollars (US$980 million), down 6% on the quarterly average for the prior six months. Excluding the notable items, which Westpac said related solely to hedge accounting, quarterly net profit was A$1.8 billion, in line with the average of the previous six months. Westpac's net interest margin for the first quarter was 1.78%, with its core NIM at 1.80%, down 4 basis points on the second half of fiscal 2023. Write to Alice Uribe at alice.uribe@wsj.com(END) Dow Jones NewswiresFebruary 18, 2024 16:18 ET (21:18 GMT)Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 18, 2024 21:29 UTC