0140 GMT - Australian bank valuations are vulnerable to any further deterioration in credit quality, Macquarie analysts warn. They tell clients in a note that expectations of higher bad and doubtful debts at the country's four largest lenders have so far been treated by the market as a blip rather than a trend. However, they think that provisioning across the sector is not as robust as some assume. Adjusting for lenders' optimization of credit risk weighted assets over the past five years, they reckon that adjusted credit provisioning coverage is 16 basis points lower than reported. National Australia Bank and Westpac have already raised their provisioning ahead of their first-half result announcements. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2026 21:40 ET (01:40 GMT)

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