ANZ Banking Group's Australia chief Mark Whelan has poured cold water on the prospect of further divestments from his area of the bank, after the $8.2 billion sale this week of the Esanda dealer finance business to Macquarie Group. 
Mr Whelan told Fairfax Media that he did not believe there were other divisions within the Australian business that would be sold, and underscored he viewed the parts of Esanda that were retained, such as commercial and consumer asset financing, were core to ANZ.  
"Domestically, I don't see any other areas in my portfolio [for divestment]," he said. 
Mr Whelan labelled the Esanda dealer finance sale as a "good result" for ANZ as it freed up capital for the bank to redeploy in higher-returning areas such as mortgages and small business loans. 
ANZ will book a profit of about $100 million on the sale, which reflected assets of $7.8 billion, and a purchase premium of about $423 million. 
The acquisition will see Macquarie's motor vehicle finance assets almost double to $17 billion.

Well received
The purchase was well received by Macquarie shareholders, prompting a 4 per cent surge in the stock in Friday's trading, as investors digested the acquisition and a second earnings upgrade by the company for its interim results reflecting the six months ended   September 30. The stock closed at $80.94 on Friday.
Macquarie completed a $400 million capital raising - via a share placement - spanning domestic and international investors, the company said in a statement. The new shares were priced at $80 apiece, a premium to Wednesday's $77.84 close, with settlement expected to occur on   October 14. 
Macquarie's placement was one of few that have priced new shares above the previous closing price. Dealogic data shows that it is among only four other secondary capital raisings since 2010 to have a notable premium. Other issuers included BC Iron, Ruralco Holdings, Buru Energy and Sydney Airport. 
"The placement was significantly oversubscribed, receiving strong support from existing and new investors both in domestic and international markets," Macquarie's chief financial officer Patrick Upfold said. "This outcome reflects the positive response from our shareholders to the Esanda dealer finance acquisition, as well as the continued growth across our existing businesses."
Macquarie said interim profit would surge 55 per cent on the same period last year, as performance fees and financial market conditions were more favourable than anticipated. The second-half result would be lower than the preceding six months, but overall profit for the year ended   March 31, would be higher than last year.
That suggests a first-half profit of $1.05 billion, and a full-year result of about $2 billion. Macquarie has also benefited from a lower Australian dollar.  
A result of that magnitude would see Macquarie post a record result, surpassing the heady pre-global financial crisis period. 

Revised forecast
Analysts revised up their earnings forecasts for Macquarie on Friday, and Bloomberg estimates now have the firm reporting a $2 billion annual profit for the period ending   March 31.
Analysts at UBS revised up their earnings-per-share estimated for Macquarie for 2016 through to 2018, noting that Macquarie provided "significant leverage" to investors in areas such as the growth of its infrastructure business and the investment banking cycle. 
Analysts at Goldman Sachs were, however, cautious about Macquarie's valuation. 
"Macquarie continues to exhibit strong earnings momentum," they said.  "However, with the stock trading close to two times net tangible assets, the upside appears factored into valuations."