ANZ

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) have announced its first quarter results to Australian stockmarket investors and traders.

• ANZ unaudited Cash Profit (one off items removed) $1.53 billion for the December quarter, up 6.2 percent on the previous corresponding period.
• ANZ unaudited net profits for the quarter fell to $1.36 billion from $1.7 billion.

ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) has sold the last of its shareholdings in Visa Inc.

• The company sold the last of its stake in Visa selling off 3.5 million shares. ANZ netted a profit after tax of $244 million from the trade.

After several denials, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) has now confirmed that its online broking business E*Trade Australia became a victim of security breach during the holidays. The broking site received thousands of emails regarding a "denial of service" attack as customers from overseas cannot access their accounts.

Banking giants ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) and Westpac (ASX:WBC) are getting ready to shift jobs to Asia in a cost-cutting effort. Up to 250 jobs may be affected in the move to boost profit growth. ANZ plans to move around 100 jobs while Westpac could send 150 positions abroad.

ANZ Bank's (ASX:ANZ) is putting Asia in the spotlight. The banking giant said that the continent is forecast to be the major revenue source in its "aggressive" growth in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and America (APEA) region.

ANZ has opened a branch in Mumbai, its first in India. APEA chief executive Alex Thursby said that 70 staff are already in India and he hopes to ramp up this number to about 200 or 300 employees in the coming years.

Another possible funding source has bowed out as ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) reconfirmed its decision not to give financing for the $2.5 billion pulp mill that Gunns (ASX:GNS) plans to build at Bell Bay.

"There has been no change in our position since May 2008," said an ANZ spokesman yesterday.

Feeble house prices and a rise in mortgage arrears are a cause of concern and likely to remain, said ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) chief executive officer Philip Chronican on Thursday.

"Household arrears are a concerning trend; yes, you want to watch it, but it is not disaster," Chronican told reporters at a business conference on Thursday.

"It's a problem that's going to stay with us for a while. I don't know if it will get worse or not.”

Westpac (ASX:WBC) has received regulatory approval to open a branch in Beijing. The branch opens on June 29 and is located in the World Finance Centre in Beijing's central business district.

Australia's second-largest lender by value also plans to open two more China branches in the medium term. The two branches are in addition to the Shanghai branch which opened in 2008, the first Westpac branch in China.

Shares from National Australia Bank's (ASX:NAB), Westpac (ASX:WBC), ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ), and Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) plummet as