Ann: Becoming a substantial holder, page-24

I should probably give a little context to my views about BEN - I bought my core holding in Jan 1991 in the name of Co-operative Building Society at average cost $1.41 and have held despite highs of $15+ during the speculation that Adelaide Bank was to merge with a Victorian bank and later the lows of the GFC during which I bought and traded a few. I recently bought a few more under $6 when it was hard to ignore what I considered to be value. However my recent purchase was against broker advice and much of the analysts reports which I receive or research. The banks just have not been in favour since the Royal Commission created huge writeoffs with its findings and yield seekers lost the assurance of dividends with some suspended, reduced or cancelled or like BEN just not included in discussion. The Royal Commission recommendations have yet to be fully implemented so there may be more writeoffs associated with that. I was advised to sell my 1991 core holding in BEN when the RBA rates hit .5% and I was advised not to engage in the recent capital raising. Recently I have seen analysts returning to support the big 4 only because they have seen the prices sink below prices during the GFC. Despite all that I have resolved to hold my original holding and I will patiently wait to trade my latest purchase when the price eventually rises. Why? I like the way they treat communities and the social benefits they include within their system of community banking and the fairness they employ within their policies while they go about the business of making reasonable profit.
My view is that it is difficult to look at the last HY19 metrics as they are now just baseline statistics against which the coming unknown economic future impacts can be measured. There are are arguments for and against having most of your loans in residential housing. The main one I am hearing about BEN is their large exposure to SA where the unemployment has risen to the highest in Australia despite having less Covid 19 cases and moving to lift constraints earlier. IMO sentiment is going to be the driver of share price for a while until it is possible to make more measured forecasts and fundamentals might make a comeback. Sorry about the rant but I probably hold a very different perspective than a lot of holders.