SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's ANZ Group will stop the remaining A$800 million ($520 million) of its share buyback, as newly appointed CEO Nuno Matos moves to preserve more cash and shifts focus to a bold reset of the bank’s growth strategy. ANZ also outlined plans on a further A$800 million worth of gross cost savings which would come from the earlier announced role reductions, team restructuring and exiting non-core businesses like Cashrewards. ANZ—Australia’s fourth-largest bank—has unveiled plans to slash 3,500 jobs at a one-off cost of A$560 million ($373 million) and will fork out A$240 million in penalties after admitting to systemic failures, including “unconscionable” conduct in a government bond deal. The company will also apply a 1.5% discount on its next two dividend reinvestment plans and expects final dividend in line with the half-year dividend. ANZ's shares had underperformed its major rivals but have risen nearly 20% since Matos took over on June 1. The bank's year-to-date gains of 24.1% outrank the share price rises of Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac. ANZ unveiled a new A$2 billion ($1.32 billion) share buyback in May 2024 after the bank's first-half cash earnings largely met analyst estimates. ($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Scott Murdoch; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)
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