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* Annual cash profit of A$6.5 bln vs consensus of A$6.4 bln
* Expanding further in Asia to diversify revenues
* Shares up 41 pct this year vs 18 pct climb for widermarket
By Jackie Range
SYDNEY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand BankingGroup Ltd booked an 11 percent climb in full-year cashearnings on Tuesday, marking its fourth straight year of recordprofits as it benefited from revenue growth, cost cutting and adrop in bad loans.
ANZ, the country's third biggest bank by market value,posted a profit of A$6.5 billion ($6.22 billion), edging head ofan average analyst projection of A$6.4 billion, on a 4 percentrise in operating income.
Cash earnings exclude one-off and non-cash items and are ameasure of profitability closely watched by investors.
ANZ has stood apart from rival domestic banks with a moreaggressive push into Asia to help diversify its revenue base,and has shown an interest in Hong Kong family run Wing Hang BankLtd, sources have said.
With its "super-regional" strategy, ANZ is seeking toposition itself as a pan-Asian player like HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc, aiming to bring inbetween 25 and 30 percent of earnings from Asia-Pacific, Europeand America by 2017.
Chief Executive Michael Smith said the record profit,underpinned in part by a 15 percent rise in the bank'sinternational and institutional banking division, showed thestrategy was working.
"Our 2013 results demonstrate that our super regionalstrategy is not just about the promise of future growth andreturns," Smith said in a statement.
The bank also benefited from lower bad debt charges and costcutting, with gross impaired assets falling by 18 per cent.Provisions for bad and doubtful debts dropped 5 percent toA$1.19 billion.
Group net interest margin, traditionally a measure of corebank profits, fell 8 basis points. Analysts were anticipating adecline because ANZ's expansion into Asia is changing itsbusiness mix to focus more on trade finance for its customers,which has lower margins than traditional term lending.
ANZ's shares have risen 41 percent so far this calendaryear, outperforming an 18 percent gain in the S&P ASX 200benchmark index.
ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NationalAustralia Bank Ltd and Westpac Banking Corp are on track to report an 8.5 percent rise in combined full-yearcash earnings to A$27.1 billion, their fifth straight year ofrecord profits.
