"Westpac NZ has both the financial strength and the commitment to New Zealand to help support the economy to recover. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 impact on the economy will be felt in banks' financial performance," Mr McLean said. Westpac NZ's financial results released today for the six months ended 31 March 2020 showed a 47% decrease in cash earnings [ii], compared with the same period last year, driven by a significant increase in expected loan impairments. Although the impact of COVID-19 occurred late in the half year reporting period, it had a significant impact, Mr McLean said. "Our entire outlook changed in the space of a couple of weeks as the country went into lockdown. This half year result reflects only the early impacts of COVID-19, and our initial assessment of the lending losses we're likely to see as a result. "I'm immensely proud of how our teams worked tirelessly to deliver banking as an essential service as the country went into lockdown, often in trying circumstances."