Westpac claims its asset quality improving

The lender said it has the lowest level of impaired assets among its peers as its watchlist and substandard loans declined.

Westpac Banking Corporation says the quality of its lending assets is improving as Australia's second biggest lender had a solid start to the year with good margins.

Westpac says asset quality is showing early signs of improving as its watchlist and substandard loans declined.

The bank's impaired loans and those 90 days past due were about the same level in the three months to December as the six months before that, according to a graph in a presentation in Hong Kong, released on Thursday.

Westpac said it had the lowest level of impaired assets among its peers.

The Sydney-based bank said its balance sheet was strong, with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 9.2 per cent.

Its funding profile had also been strengthened with customer deposits representing 52 per cent of total loan funding.

Westpac also said its funding duration had been lengthened over the past two years.

View the full story in The Sydney Morning Herald.