Australia's ANZ Banking Corp posts $5.5 B profit

One of Australia's largest banks, ANZ Banking Corp., has posted a 19 percent rise in annual profit to 5.36 billion Australian dollars ($5.54 billion), boosted by a fall in bad debts.

Australian banks proved resilient against the global economic downturn and remain among a handful of banks in the world to maintain a AA credit rating.

The Melbourne-based company said Thursday its highest ever net profit for the year to Sept. 30 was up from AU$4.5 billion in the previous 12 months.

A 31 percent drop in ANZ's provision for bad debts to AU$1.24 billion boosted the net profit, while all divisions posted profit growth.

But chief executive Mike Smith says ANZ's operating income fell in the second half of the year, due to subdued global markets.