"I think it will be a combination of a continuation of these levels for the first half, and then they'll start to tail off in the second half." After the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission opposed last week Suncorp's plan to sell its banking division to ANZ for $4.9 billion, Johnston dismissed the chances of a tie-up with rival Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which the regulator sees as an alternative to the ANZ deal. While the ACCC says Suncorp has extensively considered a Bendigo merger, Johnston maintained there was not a commercially viable deal between the two regional banks. One reason for this was that the Queensland government had specific requirements about branches and jobs, which would be threatened in a Bendigo-Suncorp merger, he said. "A merger of two regional banks is heavily synergy-dependent. It's the only way you can make it financially work, and synergies mean job losses, branch closures," Johnston said.