Business

Loss reported by BNZ

11:59 am on 28 October 2009

Bank of New Zealand is reporting a loss after setting aside $661 million to cover tax costs.

The bank lost $181 million in the year to the end of September - a turnaround from a profit of $785 million last year.

Excluding the tax provision and one-off charges, BNZ's underlying profit stood at $703 million due to a strong performance from its markets operations.

The recession also saw the BNZ more the double the amount it set aside for bad and doubtful debt to $185 million.

BNZ is owned by National Australia Bank.