Home lending on the move for Adelaide bank
(3 February 2004 – Australia) Adelaide Bank has posted a 29 percent net profit for the six months to December 2003, based primarily on strong housing lending.
The bank said its net profit before preference share dividends was $29.1 million compared with $22.5 million for the corresponding period a year earlier.
Chief executive officer Barry Fitzpatrick said the bank’s total loans under management rose 21 percent to $123 billion from $10.1 billion the previous year, with loan approvals increasing 50 percent to $3.9 billion from $2.6 billion.
Despite recent interest rate rises, he said the bank’s home lending business had not been adversely affected.
"We haven’t felt any effects of a slowdown to date as our market share is edging higher, but we do expect the rate of growth to slow this year. Loan growth in the system will be in the order of 15 percent and we’d expect to match at least that," Fitzpatrick said.
He said the bank was committed to its strategy of business lending activities in its home state and following South Australian clients interstate.
However, he said the bank wasn’t looking to move into business lending nationally as he believed small organisations lending outside their "sphere of influence" ultimately had credit quality problems.
Chief executive officer Barry Fitzpatrick said the bank’s total loans under management rose 21 percent to $123 billion from $10.1 billion the previous year, with loan approvals increasing 50 percent to $3.9 billion from $2.6 billion.
Despite recent interest rate rises, he said the bank’s home lending business had not been adversely affected.
"We haven’t felt any effects of a slowdown to date as our market share is edging higher, but we do expect the rate of growth to slow this year. Loan growth in the system will be in the order of 15 percent and we’d expect to match at least that," Fitzpatrick said.
He said the bank was committed to its strategy of business lending activities in its home state and following South Australian clients interstate.
However, he said the bank wasn’t looking to move into business lending nationally as he believed small organisations lending outside their "sphere of influence" ultimately had credit quality problems.
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