(5 September 2006 – New Zealand) Kiwibank has announced a profit of NZ$15.8 million for the year ended 30 June 2006, more than twice the previous year’s result of NZ$7.2 million.Kiwibank’s chief executive officer, Sam Knowles said that the result exceeded the bank’s best expectations.
Knowles said that the result reflected strong growth in the bank’s customer base, with more than 2000 customers signing up each week. Loans and advances were up 66 percent to NZ$2.61 billion and retail deposits grew by the same percentage, increasing to NZ$2.38 billion.
While strong competition prevailed in New Zealand’s banking markets, Kiwibank was able to offer competitive interest rates on loans and savings, Knowles added.
Business banking remains important to Kiwibank’s continuing expansion. The bank said it offers competitive fee structure for SMEs and has also entered into a partnership with Citibank to launch a range of international services to support its SME customers.
Knowles added that the recently launched international services are also meant to reinforce Kiwibank’s image as a full service bank.