Kiwibank has bounced back from its Covid-19 lows, more than doubling its profit from last year.
Overall net lending grew by $3 billion, with residential mortgage lending growth of $2.2b, while business lending jumped 51 percent to $800m. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The New Zealand-owned bank announced a net profit after tax of $126 million in the year ending June 30, up from $57m the prior year.
Chief executive Steve Jurkovich said the result was driven by a combination of factors, including strong lending and deposit growth, cost discipline and the anticipated release of bad debt provisioning for Covid-19.
Overall net lending grew by $3 billion (up 13 percent), with residential mortgage lending growth of $2.2b (up 11 percent) and growth in business lending of $800 million, which was a 51 percent increase.
Net interest income also provided a boost, up $73m to $528m.
"I'm proud of the progress Kiwibank continues to make as we strive to deliver on our goal to become the bank of choice for even more Kiwis - whether that's getting into a new home, investing in their businesses, or bringing change to New Zealand through our purpose-led approach," Jurkovich said.
He said the bank was working hard to support any customers impacted by the latest level 4 lockdown and acknowledged the anxiety and uncertainty that many customers were likely to be feeling.
"We've moved quickly to update information on our website. We urge customers worried about their financial situation to get in touch so we can work through the options available," he said.
Jurkovich said the bank had assisted more New Zealanders with their home ownership aspirations than ever before.
"The strong housing market has played a significant role, as well as our consistently competitive and market-leading interest rates.
"In addition, the focus on growing our frontline banking expertise and starting to expand our reach via advisers, demonstrates our changing business and the shifts we are making to better meet customer preferences, as well as how we are showing up to help more Kiwi homeowners in a variety of ways."
During and after the last major Covid-19 outbreak, Kiwibank said it provided support to over 6000 personal and 2000 business customers.
The bank also approved close to its allocation of Business Finance Guarantee Scheme loans supporting nearly 180 business with $120m in term loans.
Jurkovich said the scheme was successful in that it helped customers adjust to a post lockdown environment.
"Following this latest outbreak, we have moved quickly again to ensure we have support packages and other measures in place. With the situation changing day-to-day we'll continue to monitor and respond as necessary.
"As always, if you are a customer experiencing financial difficulty get in contact with us sooner rather than later. For any customers facing hardship we'll work with them to identify the best option for their circumstance."