Full year profit for the New Zealand-owned bank Kiwibank has halved year on year, as the bank set aside $51 million for bad and doubtful debts in light of Covid-19.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Profit for the 12 months to June was $57 million, compared with $108m in 2019.
Chief executive Steve Jurkovich said its bottom line was also impacted by the lower interest rate environment, and increased operating costs.
"We continued to increase our investment in good customer outcomes and our transformation to be an even better bank," he said.
He said this strategy was working, with lending and deposit rates growing faster than the market average.
"Lending growth [was] 9 percent and deposit growth 13 percent in FY20. The market grew at a slower pace of 5 percent and 9 percent respectively."
The bank had provided support to more than 8,000 personal and business banking customers for loans totalling more than $2.6 billion.
The majority of customers received support through interest-only restructures or repayment deferral arrangements.
The full year result comes off flat first half revenue growth, and reported increased operations and compliance costs.
New Zealand Post owns 53 percent of Kiwibank and its subsidiaries, with the New Zealand Super Fund holding 25 percent and ACC with 22 percent.