Westpac appoints insider Anthony Miller as CEO, incumbent Peter King to retire

By Adwitiya Srivastava

(Reuters) -Westpac Banking Corp has appointed its business and wealth division head Anthony Miller as its new chief executive and managing director, effective from Dec. 16, Australia's third-largest lender said on Monday.

Miller will succeed Peter King, who is retiring on Dec. 15 after a 30-year career at Westpac including five years as CEO.

Before joining Westpac in 2020, Miller had served as the CEO of Deutsche Bank's Australia and New Zealand operations and co-head of investment bank APAC. He has also worked with Goldman Sachs for 16 years.

"We would not expect the new leadership to change the direction or outlook for Westpac. King took control at a difficult time for the bank, and he leaves it in pretty good shape having returned the bank to loan and earnings growth and resolved a number of risk issues," said Nathan Zaia, a senior equities analyst at Morningstar.

"For Miller, the big challenge will be successfully executing on the technology simplification which is currently underway."

A former chief financial officer of Westpac, King was appointed as acting CEO in December 2019. He then transitioned to a permanent role in April 2020 and helmed the company through the COVID-19 pandemic. Westpac's stock price has doubled during his time as CEO, as of Friday's close.

Shares of Westpac fell as much as 2.2% as of 1230 GMT, in tandem with a sell-off in the broader market.

"Peter has provided much needed stability to the bank while transforming risk management. He simplified the company’s portfolio of businesses and returned it to growth in key divisions," Westpac Chair Steven Gregg said in a statement.

With the appointment, Westpac has become the second major Australian bank this year to execute a CEO succession. National Australia Bank picked Andrew Irvine in February to succeed Ross McEwan as its CEO.

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft and Subhranshu Sahu)