Do banks really make that much money ?

[Anonymous]

eg Westpac Asset value 800+billion last profit 4 billion.

That's around 0.50% profit.

I am not an accountant's bum but it appears to me that a profit

margin like that would have us waking in a cold shiver.

There must be a lot of bad debt ( most likely from big guys falling over )

plus **bleep** investments that us poor suckers have to replace 

[davidc4430]

banks are private businesses, they live to make profit.

best thing to do if you dont want to be part of that is pay off your home if its a morgage thru one of the big banks asap then join a credit union. dont put your money in the big banks.

i have never had an account in one of the big banks, been with a credit union my whole life. although credit unionss are not a huge difference these days.

still better than those huge blood sucking banks.

[lyndal1838]

Most banks are public companies.

Get yourself some of that profit by buying shares in the company.

[chameleon54]

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@Anonymous wrote:

eg Westpac Asset value 800+billion last profit 4 billion.

That's around 0.50% profit.

I am not an accountant's bum but it appears to me that a profit

margin like that would have us waking in a cold shiver.

There must be a lot of bad debt ( most likely from big guys falling over )

plus **bleep** investments that us poor suckers have to replace 

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I just had a quick look at Westpacs FY16 report to the stock exchange and in their summary, they state they achieved a 14% return on equity. I didnt study the full report but I believe the profit figure you are reffering too may have been for last 6 months. ( ending Dec 2016 ). It is worth noting that ebays wordwide profit for the last three years combined is similar to what Westpac made in the last 6 months.

14% return on equity in the current financial climate is a huge figure. Most companies would be happy with half that. So in answer to your question, yes the big four banks are making obscene profits at the moment. Bank profits are underwritten by the taxpayers through Government legislation that was introduced during the financial crisis to ensure they remained solvent and to prevent runs on the bank through panic driven customer withdrawrals. ( ie. bank deposits are gauranteed by the government and taxpayers )

Bring on the super profits taxes ( or at least make major companies pay their fair share through regular means )