Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
(ASX:BEN) is hoping for a recovery in margin lending, telling media it will lift investment in its leveraged equities business as investor confidence bounces back.
Despite retail share investors cutting their gearing levels in recent years, the lender says the margin lending sector may have hit a bottom this year.
Media reports say others, including Westpac-owned BT Financial, have also experienced a lift in the $12.5 billion margin lending sector. But few are confident enough to predict a sustained recovery.
Bendigo is the fourth-largest margin lender in the country, after building up its presence through the purchase of Macquarie's loan book at the peak of the global financial crisis.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank produced a net profit of $189.4 million in the first half of the 2013 financial year.
