Justin McCarthy
General Manager of Investor Relations

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Westpac's First Half '26 Results Briefing. I'm Justin McCarthy, Head of Investor Relations.

Before we commence today, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet. For us here in Barangaroo, that's the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I pay my respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Pleased today to be joined by our CEO, Anthony Miller; and CFO, Nathan Goonan. And after the presentation, we'll have time for Q&A.

With that, over to you, Anthony.

Anthony Miller
Group CEO & MD

Thanks, Justin, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased with your progress -- with our progress this half, and we're starting to see operating momentum build across the bank. This was reflected across a range of metrics. Lending and deposits grew, operating expenses were lower, while asset quality improved. In Consumer and Business, we delivered double-digit growth in transaction account sales. Better service quality and productivity have helped to shift more new lending towards proprietary channels. In Institutional, we've continued to build deeper