Kiwibank today announced a net profit after tax of $202 million for the 12 months to 30 June 2024 (FY24), up 15% on the previous financial year, and the best in the bank’s history.
Chief Executive Steve Jurkovich said Kiwibank had once again outperformed the New Zealand banking market while continuing to invest more than ever in its transformation to enable future growth and deliver on its Purpose of Kiwi making Kiwi better off.
“For the fifth consecutive year, Kiwibank has improved its profitability and grown faster than our competition, as we continue to build a stronger asset for New Zealand with all our earnings staying right here.
“We know there’s plenty of choice out there, but today’s result shows once again that we are fulfilling our role as a disruptor, more Kiwi are choosing us, and momentum is on our side.”
Mr Jurkovich said Kiwibank recorded positive gains across nearly all key financial metrics in FY24, in a challenging economic environment.
The bank achieved net lending growth of $2.8 billion, growing its lending book by 9.3% to $32.4 billion. Home lending grew 2.7 times faster than the market and business lending more than 3 times faster than market. Deposits increased by $2.4 billion, growing the deposit book by 9.4% to $28.2 billion and 2.6 times faster than market growth.
We’ve worked incredibly hard to build and maintain the trust of our customers during FY24 and to be there in those moments that matter.Steve Jurkovich, Kiwibank Chief Executive
“It’s great to see these efforts recognised once again by the New Zealand public, with Kiwibank named the number one bank in Kantar’s 2024 Corporate Reputation Index, and the only bank in the top 20 companies.”
Annual Sustainability Report and Climate Statement
Mr Jurkovich said he was also proud to be releasing Kiwibank’s 2024 Sustainability Report as well as its first Climate Statement.
“These reports demonstrate the progress we’ve made towards our Purpose and Sustainability goals which are a key measure of our performance, and the action we are taking to build Kiwibank’s climate resilience.”
Highlights included:
- More than 62,000 students used Banqer, a financial education platform, bringing our total to more than 350,000 since 2016.
- We supported more than 45,000 Kiwi to take action to secure their financial futures.
- We delivered more than $177 million in sustainable finance to Kiwi businesses, bringing our total to $231.6 million towards our $2 billion goal.
- We reduced operational emissions by 29% from 2021.
Update on fraud and scams
Mr Jurkovich said Kiwibank had committed to a multi-year investment in systems, processes and people to better protect customers, and this year delivered several significant initiatives.
“We invested in and continue to upgrade our fraud monitoring systems to enable enhanced detection and blocking of suspected fraud in real time. We have grown our fraud team and implemented wider initiatives to educate our people and to raise public awareness about fraud and scams.
“As a member of the New Zealand Banking Association, we are collaborating with other banks on a number of industry initiatives. These include the roll-out of Confirmation of Payee, a security feature that verifies if the account name matches the intended payee during online payments, and the establishment of the first phase of the Anti-Scam Centre, which enables the sharing of mule account information.”
Commerce Commission market study recommendations and future capital investment
Commenting on the Commerce Commission’s final report into personal banking services, Mr Jurkovich said Kiwibank was up for the challenge of fulfilling the role of “maverick” and taking on the large four banks.
“Kiwibank has been successfully growing market share for some time now, supported in part by $225m of additional capital injected in July 2023 by our 100% shareholder, Kiwi Group Capital.
“We would welcome more access to capital over time to deliver on our Purpose. Kiwibank is currently focussed on a multi-year transformation that will deliver more scalable systems to enable it to further accelerate its current growth. Any future capital investment would need to take timing of the transformation into account in order to maximise value.
“Ultimately, any decision around capital, and the sources of that capital, sits with our shareholder, KGC, and the Crown as the 100% shareholder of KGC.”
Outlook
Mr Jurkovich said the RBNZ’s decision to cut the OCR last week was the right thing to do and that Kiwibank was forecasting twelve, 25bp cuts, or 300bps in total.
“The magnitude of these rate cuts will be positive for Kiwi households and businesses looking to borrow and create momentum for the New Zealand economy.
"As inflation and interest rates come down, we expect to see a rise in confidence and a much more positive outlook heading into 2025 and beyond."
Download the Kiwibank Disclosure Statement.
Download Kiwibank FY24 performance highlights.
Media contact: Ben Mabon, Head of External Communications 027 288 3263.