Kiwibank Declares $11.37 Million Six-Month Profit

19 February 2007

Kiwibank Declares $11.37 Million Six-Month Profit

Kiwibank has announced a profit of $11.37 million after tax for the six months ended December 31, 2006. This compares with a profit of $5.45 million after tax for the corresponding period in 2005. Chief Executive Sam Knowles said the bank is "sticking to its game plan and maintaining the growth momentum".

The highlights for the six months to December 31, 2006:

* Total lending (home loans, business banking and credit cards) increased 21 per cent from $2.6 billion to $3.1 billion

* Retail deposits increased 43 per cent from $2.1 billion to $3 billion

* The bank now has more than 500,000 customers. Mr Knowles said the challenge for Kiwibank now "is to continue to keep building the three core support pillars of the bank: loans, deposits and customers. We will not be complacent and know that we must keep challenging the banking sector with new and better products and services and market-leading interest rates.

"In the last six months we have introduced mobile banking, incorporated the New Zealand Home Loans business into the bank and launched personal and vehicle loans.

"We have continued the growth of business banking and now operate 17 offices covering all main cities in the country. More offices will be opened over the next six months." Mr Knowles said one of the most impressive areas of growth for the bank had been with its On-line call deposit account.

"Kiwibank has attracted more than a billion dollars of deposits into the On-line account since it was launched last year. Growth of this account was significantly boosted by the closure of Superbank and switching of those customers to Kiwibank," Mr Knowles said. Kiwibank incurred $5.8 million in tax for the six-month period.

ENDS

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