Bendigo's Efficiency Initiatives Should Drive Cost-to-Income Improvement
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is one of Australia’s top 10 largest banks, but by loans and deposits is much smaller than the four major banks. A higher cost/income ratio and funding costs make it difficult to generate attractive returns on shareholder capital in a competitive market. The acquisitions of Adelaide Bank, Rural Bank, and Delphi Bank have helped scale and diversify the loan book, but revenue gains and synergy benefits to date have failed to generate excess returns on equity given the larger capital base.