Kiwibank declares $22.7 million six-month profit
24/01/2008
Kiwibank has announced a profit of $22.7 million after tax for the six months ended December 31, 2007. This compares with the profit of $17.2 million after tax for the same period last year.
Kiwibank Chief Executive Sam Knowles described the result as "very satisfactory".
"The bank is building on the early work in developing a strong customer base and competing aggressively in the loan and deposit markets."
- Total lending (home loans, business banking and credit cards) increased 34 per cent from $3.6 billion to $4.8 billion. This includes $600 million of loans acquired from HSBC.
- Retail deposits increased 20 per cent from $3.3 billion to $4 billion.
- Kiwibank now has nearly 600,000 customers.
Commenting on the latest result, Mr Knowles said the growth of business banking services has been pleasing. "Business Banking total lending exceeded the $1 billion mark during December. All 17 Business Banking Centres are now fully operational and business growth has been strong over the last six months."
"The Business Online Call account - with a two to sign Internet capability - has proven a real success with total deposits now reaching $500 million. Business account growth has remained consistently strong averaging 350 new customers each month," Mr Knowles said.
Uncertainty in the financial sector has continued to drive strong retail deposits for Kiwibank attracting $392 million dollars of Term Deposits for the period and growing the Online Call account by $189 million.
Mr Knowles said the growth in the home loan book was affected by the slowing New Zealand housing market, although "we have been able to maintain very competitive interest rates in comparison with the Australian-owned banks."
Kiwibank incurred $10.3 million in tax for the six month period.
From July 1, 2007 Kiwibank adopted the New Zealand International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that have changed the accounting procedures for assessing various aspects of the business (goodwill, asset valuations and taxation). The profit for the six months ended December 31, 2006 using previous accounting procedures was $11.37 million. This has been restated in the current financial statements using the IFRS procedures.
For further information: Bruce Thompson, Communications Manager (04) 460 6831.