Westpac raked in $6.9 billion in profits last year as the banking giant widened its margins in the second half of the year, and its bottom line also benefited from low bad debt charges.

The bank on Monday also said it had sold the RAMS home loan business, which holds $21.4 billion in mortgages, to a consortium including non-bank lender Pepper Money, private equity giant KKR, and money manager PIMCO, for an undisclosed sum. Westpac shut down the RAMS business – which has faced legal action from the corporate watchdog – to new customers last year.

Westpac, the country’s second-biggest mortgage lender, on Monday reported net profit after tax fell 1 per cent in the year to September, to $6.9 billion, while it raised its final dividend by 1c to 77c.

The banking giant’s deposits grew by 7 per

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