The ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in September.
ANZ shares managed to rise by 1.3%, while the ASX 200 dropped by 3.5%.
That's particularly impressive when we consider that during last month, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price dropped by 3.6%, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price declined by 2.2% and the National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price rose 0.4%.
In other words, ANZ outperformed the other major ASX bank shares in September.
What's going on?
It's interesting that ANZ managed to outperform during a period of market volatility.
ANZ's growth could be playing a key part in investors' minds.
Two of the main elements of a bank's profitability are the net interest margin (NIM) and how much the bank has lent out to borrowers.
There's a lot of commentary about which way the NIM of ASX bank shares are going amid competition, higher interest rates and a desire to keep making profit for shareholders.
However, ANZ is seemingly doing a good job at growing the size of its loan book, which could be supporting the ANZ share price.
According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, ANZ has lifted its market share.
While it was reported that Westpac has grown its mortgage book faster than other banks for the third month in a row, ANZ has supposedly been growing faster than Westpac in the last couple of months.
The AFR reported on comments from RateCity research director Sally Tindall that said CBA was in an "overt retreat" from the refinancing market, though it could be forced to come back to the market with a more competitive offer.
ANZ reportedly still has a $2,000 cashback in place for borrowers taking up offers, and it's gaining market share.
Tindall said:
Don't look past ANZ's increase in its mortgage book as well. When you compare it in the two months of data, ANZ has risen more as a percentage than Westpac.
The newspaper reported that ANZ's loan growth of 0.7% was double the overall loan system growth rate, taking its market share to 13.3%. It has been steadily increasing its market share over the last 12 months after previous difficulties with its lending systems which saw it lose market share because of lengthy loan processing times.
ANZ share price snapshot
Since the start of 2023, ANZ has risen by more than 9%, while the ASX 200 has fallen by around 0.75%.
