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Banks rediscover the profit from lending to the bush
7 Mar 2005
Banks are turning back to the farm as a source of new business. In the year to June 2004, lending to agribusiness by banks increased by 22 per cent to $38 billion. Commonwealth Bank recently opened a designated national agribusiness unit; ANZ is selling country banking franchises in conjunction with rural retailer CRT; National Australia Bank - the country's biggest rural lender - is also attempting to re-assert its dominance of the sector, and Westpac has gone on a hiring binge among tertiary graduates of agricultural studies. Neil Dobbin, head of rural banking in Australia for Rabobank, one of the world's biggest rural lenders, says there is a raft of players "clamouring" for market share, which has resulted in heavy discounting of loans across the sector. "A lot of banks had left the rural sector; now they are trying to get back in. There is a little bit of desperation in there," he said.
Financial Review, 07/03/05
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