Gloating Banks: $26 Billion Loot

Westpac Australia's second-biggest bank recorded net earnings of $6.8 billion for the 12 months to the end of September.

Its cash profit, which excludes one-off costs and is the banking industry's preferred measure of earnings, increased by 8 per cent to $7.1 billion.

Cash earnings from Westpac's Australian banks climbed by 12 percent to $4.5 billion, while returns from its New Zealand operations surged by 16 per cent to $634 million.

Westpac's result takes the combined annual profit of Australia's big four banks to $26.1 billion.

Last week, National Australia Bank announced its profit lifted by 34 per cent to $5.5 billion, while ANZ's earnings increased by 11 per cent to 6.3 billion

In August, the Commonwealth Bank recorded an 8 per cent profit increase, to $7.7 billion.

The combined cash profit for the banks was $27.4 billion.