The Annual Report will be lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange Limited and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Information contained in or otherwise accessible through the websites mentioned in this Annual Report does not form part of the report unless specifically stated to incorporate the information by reference thereby forming part of the report. All other references in this report to websites are inactive textual references and are for information only.
References
In this Annual Report references to ‘Westpac’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ are to Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141. References to ‘Westpac’, ‘Group’, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ under all sections of this report include Westpac Banking Corporation and its subsidiaries unless they clearly mean just Westpac Banking Corporation.
Disclosure regarding forward-looking statements
This Annual Report contains statements that constitute ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a ‘safe harbor’ for forward-looking information to encourage companies to provide prospective information about themselves without fear of litigation so long as the information is identified as forward-looking and is accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the information.
Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this Annual Report and include statements regarding our intent, belief or current expectations with respect to our business and operations, market conditions, results of operations and financial condition, including, without limitation, future loan loss provisions and financial support to certain borrowers. We use words such as ‘may’, ‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘plan’, ‘estimate’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘probability’, ‘risk’, or other similar words to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions described in this Annual Report as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or intended.
The factors that may impact on forward-looking statements made by us include:
- inflation, interest rate, exchange rate, market and monetary fluctuations;
- market liquidity and investor confidence;
- the effect of, and changes in, laws, regulations, taxation or accounting standards or practices and government policy;
- changes in consumer spending, saving and borrowing habits in Australia, New Zealand and in other countries in which we conduct our operations;
- the effects of competition in the geographic and business areas in which we conduct operations;
- the ability to maintain or to increase market share and control expenses;
- the timely development of and acceptance of new products and services and the perceived overall value of these products and services by users;
- technological changes;
- demographic changes and changes in political, social or economic conditions in any of the major markets in which we operate; and
- various other factors beyond our control.
The above list is not exhaustive. For certain other factors that may impact on forward-looking statements made by us, refer to the section on ‘Risk factors’ in this Annual Report. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to us, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events.
We are under no obligation, and do not intend, to update any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this Annual Report.
Financial information
We adopted the requirements of the Australian Equivalents to International Reporting Standards (A-IFRS) for the first time in preparing financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2006. Westpac applied the transition rules upon first time adoption of A-IFRS. Although the 2005 financial information was restated under A-IFRS, exemptions were available from restating financial instruments and insurance related assets and liabilities. Financial instruments and insurance related assets and liabilities were accounted for under A-IFRS from 2006. The financial statements and other financial information for the years ended 30 September 2007, 2006 and 2005 included elsewhere in this Annual Report, unless otherwise indicated, have been prepared and presented on this basis.
Previously published financial statements for our financial year ended 30 September 2005, as well as all prior financial periods, were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in Australia at the time those financial statements were prepared (AGAAP). A-IFRS differs in certain material respects from AGAAP and, accordingly, financial statements for our financial years ended 30 September 2007, 2006 and 2005 prepared in accordance with A-IFRS are not comparable to the financial statements for 2005 and prior years prepared in accordance with AGAAP.
Under applicable United States (US) disclosure requirements, we are required to include in this Annual Report certain financial and operating data covering a period of five years. Due to the transition to A-IFRS, such information prepared in accordance with A-IFRS is only available for the financial years ended 30 September 2007, 2006 and 2005. Accordingly, we have included in a separate section of this Annual Report under the caption ‘Additional financial information’ required data as of and for the financial years ended 30 September 2005, 2004 and 2003 derived from our previously published financial statements prepared in accordance with AGAAP. Because this information was prepared in accordance with AGAAP, it is not comparable to such information derived from our financial statements prepared in accordance with A-IFRS. For a more complete understanding of the financial and operating data prepared in accordance with AGAAP, see our Annual Report for the financial year ended 30 September 2005, a copy of which is available on our web site at ‘www.westpac.com.au’ or on the web site maintained by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at ‘www.sec.gov’.
Currency of presentation, exchange rates and certain definitions
‘Financial statements’ means our audited consolidated balance sheet as at 30 September 2007 and 30 September 2006 and consolidated income statement, cash flows and recognised income and expense for each of the three years ended 30 September 2007, 2006 and 2005 together with accompanying notes which are included in this Annual Report.
We publish our consolidated financial statements in Australian dollars. In this Annual Report, unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, references to ‘dollar amounts’, ‘$’, ‘AUD’ or ‘A$’ are to Australian dollars, references to ‘US$’, ‘USD’ or ‘US dollars’ are to United States dollars and references to ‘NZ$’, ‘NZD’ ‘or NZ dollars’ are to New Zealand dollars. Solely for the convenience of the reader, certain Australian dollar amounts have been translated into US dollars at specified rates. These translations should not be construed as representations that the Australian dollar amounts actually represent such US dollar amounts or have been or could be converted into US dollars at the rate indicated. Unless otherwise stated, the translations of Australian dollars into US dollars have been made at the rate of A$1.00 = US$0.8855, the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers in Australian dollars as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the ‘Noon Buying Rate’) as of 28 September 2007. Unless otherwise stated, the translation of Australian dollars into NZ dollars has been made at the rate of A$1.00 = NZ$1.1672 (2006 NZ$1.1446), being the closing spot exchange rate on28 September 2007 used in the financial statements. Refer to ‘Exchange rates’for information regarding the rates of exchange between the Australian dollarand the US dollar for the financial years ended 30 September 2003 to 30 September 2007 and for the period to 23 October 2007.
Our financial year ends on 30 September. As used throughout this Annual Report, the financial year ended 30 September 2007 is referred to as 2007 and other financial years are referred to in a corresponding manner.
Any discrepancies between totals and sums of components in tables contained in this Annual Report are due to rounding.
Exchange rates
For each of the years indicated, the high, low, average and year end Noon Buying Rates for Australian dollars were:
For each of the months indicated, the high and low Noon Buying Rates for Australian dollars were:
1 Through to 23 October 2007. On 23 October 2007, the Noon Buying Rate was A$1.00 = US$0.8943.
2 The average is calculated by using the average of the exchange rates on the last day of each month during the period.
3 The Noon Buying Rate at such date may differ from the rate used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements at such date. Refer to Note 1(a)(v) to the financial statements.