Results Highlights

Profit & Loss

	Quarter to			Half-Year to		Half-
	March 2000	December 1999	March 1999	March 2000	March 1999	Year Change
	$M	$M	$M	$M	$M	%
Net interest income	1,556	1,567	1,518	3,123	3,038	2.8
Other operating income	1,252	1,223	1,088	2,475	2,255	9.8
Total operating income	2,808	2,790	2,606	5,598	5,293	5.8
Other operating expenses	1,473	1,467	1,417	2,940	2,881	2.0
Underlying profit	1,335	1,323	1,189	2,658	2,412	10.2
Charge to provide for doubtful debts	142	118	171	260	309	(15.9)
Operating profit before tax	1,193	1,205	1,018	2,398	2,103	14.0
Income tax expense	391	434	353	825	714	15.5
Operating profit after income tax	802	771	665	1,573	1,389	13.2
Outside equity interests	-	-	(1)	-	(1)	large
Operating profit after tax attributable to members	802	771	666	1,573	1,390	13.2
Distributions to holders of National Income Securities and Trust Units	48	45	14	93	29	large
Operating profit after tax attributable to ordinary shareholders	754	726	652	1,480	1,361	8.7

Dividends

					March 2000	March 1999
Interim dividend declared:					59c	54c
Interim dividend payout ratio (1)					59.6%	58.3%
Dividend coverage ratio number of times (1)					1.68	1.71

⁽¹⁾ Based on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders.

Balance Sheet

	As at
	March 2000	December 1999	September 1999	March 1999	% Change Sep 99	% Change Dec 99
	$M	$M	$M	$M	to Mar 00	to Mar 00
Assets
Due from other financial institutions	13,097	9,333	11,120	11,764	17.8	40.3
Due from customers on acceptances	22,926	23,921	22,851	24,723	0.3	(4.2)
Trading securities	13,998	16,491	12,853	12,466	8.9	(15.1)
Investment securities	9,724	11,100	8,951	9,985	8.6	(12.4)
Loans and advances (net)	180,646	170,056	165,620	162,436	9.1	6.2
Mortgage servicing rights	6,670	5,975	5,345	4,487	24.8	11.6
Other	38,932	36,034	27,341	29,114	42.4	8.0
Total assets	285,993	272,910	254,081	254,975	12.6	4.8
Liabilities
Due to other financial institutions	23,560	19,057	16,203	16,669	45.4	23.6
Liability on acceptances	22,926	23,921	22,851	24,723	0.3	(4.2)
Deposits and other borrowings	175,688	170,516	162,468	164,702	8.1	3.0
Bonds, notes and subordinated debt	14,747	13,575	13,437	12,637	9.7	8.6
Other	29,153	26,469	20,602	20,191	41.5	10.1
Total Liabilities	266,074	253,538	235,561	238,922	13.0	4.9
Total Shareholders' Equity	19,919	19,372	18,520	16,053	7.6	2.8

Key Performance Measures

		Quarter to			Half-Year to
All figures are in A$ millions unless otherwise stated.		March 2000	December 1999	March 1999	March 2000	March 1999
Earnings (1)
Earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders		754	726	652	1,480	1,361
Basic earnings per ordinary share		50.5c	48.8c	44.3c	99.3c	93.0c
Diluted earnings per ordinary share		49.0c	47.5c	43.2c	95.8c	90.5c
Return on average assets		1.09%	1.06%	1.04%	1.07%	1.07%
Return on average shareholders' funds		17.03%	17.84%	16.78%	17.41%	17.48%
Cash Earnings (2)
Cash earnings		802	776	701	1,578	1,461
Basic earnings per share		53.8c	52.1c	47.8c	105.9c	99.9c
Return on average tangible assets		1.17%	1.15%	1.14%	1.16%	1.20%
Return on average tangible shareholders' funds		21.53%	23.09%	22.39%	22.25%	23.34%
Productivity Measures
Underlying profit per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$) (3)		$119,199	$117,655	$101,966	$118,663	$103,424
Operating profit per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$) (3)		$71,609	$68,565	$57,108	$70,225	$59,598
Non interest income per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$)		$111,788	$108,762	$93,304	$110,494	$96,692
Operating costs per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$) (3)		$127,235	$126,014	$117,317	$126,878	$119,246
Net Interest Income
Group net interest spread		2.39%	2.41%	2.56%	2.40%	2.48%
Group net interest margin		2.95%	2.92%	3.09%	2.93%	3.01%
Non Interest Income
Non interest income to total net income		44.6%	43.8%	41.7%	44.2%	42.6%
Non interest income to total net income (excluding impact of life insurance standard)		44.0%	42.7%	41.7%	43.4%	42.6%
Non Interest Expenses (excluding goodwill)
Cost/income ratio (3)		50.7%	50.8%	52.5%	50.8%	52.5%
Cost/income ratio (excluding impact of life insurance standard)		51.0%	51.4%	52.5%	51.2%	52.5%
Operating costs to total assets		1.99%	2.08%	2.15%	1.99%	2.18%
Operating costs to total assets (excluding life insurance business)		2.03%	2.12%	2.15%	2.08%	2.18%
Bad and Doubtful Debts
Total provision charge to operating profit (3)		17.7%	15.3%	25.7%	16.5%	22.2%
Specific provision balance to total assets		0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Specific provision balance to risk weighted assets		0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Capital
Tier 1 ratio		7.72%	7.79%	6.51%	7.72%	6.51%
Tier 2 ratio		2.71%	2.80%	2.99%	2.71%	2.99%
Deductions		(0.45%)	(0.35%)	(0.27%)	(0.45%)	(0.27%)
Total capital ratio		9.98%	10.24%	9.23%	9.98%	9.23%
Risk weighted assets		$216,681	$201,412	$197,333	$216,681	$197,333
Asset Quality
Gross non-accrual loans to gross loans and acceptances		0.77%	0.76%	0.75%	0.77%	0.75%
Net non-accrual loans to risk weighted assets		0.53%	0.49%	0.52%	0.53%	0.52%
Shares
Net tangible asset backing per ordinary share		$9.52	$9.18	$8.36	$9.52	$8.36
Weighted average shares on issue ('000)		1,494,189	1,486,199	1,468,693	1,490,359	1,462,945

⁽¹⁾ Based on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders.

⁽²⁾ Cash basis calculations are based on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders and exclude goodwill and related amortisation expense.

⁽³⁾ Credit expenses associated with HomeSide's loans sold to third parties are now classified as a charge for doubtful debts. Comparatives have been restated to classify credit expenses, previously reported in General Expenses - Other, on a consistent basis with the current classification.