ANZ New Zealand has recorded a 21% jump in unaudited nine-month profit as income rose 7% and expenses fell 5%.
The bank's profit after income tax for the nine months to June 30 rose $214 million, or 21%, to $1.243 billion from $1.029 billion in the same period of the previous year.
ANZ said the profit rise reflected improvement in the economy, with increased credit quality, a lift in lending and deposits, and cost reductions and productivity gains from simplifying the business.
The profit jump came as operating income rose $183 million, or 7%, to $2.786 billion, and operating expenses fell $59 million, or 5%, to $1.096 billion. The bank also recorded a write-back in its credit impairment column of $20 million, as opposed to a credit impairment charge of $49 million in the same period of the previous year.
Net interest income rose $98 million, or 5%, to $2.056 billion.
Australian parent, the ANZ Banking Group, posted an 8% rise in net profit after tax to A$5 billion. Its unaudited cash profit was also up 8%, to A$5.2 billion.
ANZ NZ's gross lending rose $3.68 billion between September 30 last year and June 30, driven by market share growth in home loans, credit cards and commercial lending, the bank said.
As of its interim results released in May, ANZ NZ put its mortgage market share at 30.7%, which it said was up 22 basis points, its commercial lending share up 20 basis points to 29.8%, and its credit card market share up 20 basis points to 26%. ANZ NZ's credit card outstandings rose $104 million in year to June, or 7.2%, to $1.546 billion.
"ANZ is now market leader for new home lending in all major New Zealand cities including Auckland and Christchurch," ANZ said, reiterating what it said in May.
June quarter home loan book up 1.2%
In the June quarter, ANZ grew its home loan book by a net $704 million, or 1.2%, to $59.212 billion. Its high loan-to-value ratio lending, as a percentage of the total home loan book, fell to 17.62% from 19.42%. The only other bank to have issued June quarter figures so far is ASB. Its home loan book grew a net $290 million, or about 0.7%, to $41.817 billion.
ANZ's June quarter home loan growth is in line with Reserve Bank sector credit figures, which show the market grew by $2.3 billion, or 1.2%, to $192.947 billion in the three months to June 30.
ANZ, meanwhile, also said its New Zealand customer deposits increased 6% over the nine months to June.
In a statement ANZ group CEO Mike Smith said the New Zealand business was continuing to benefit from the merger of the National Bank into ANZ in 2012, and the IT merger between the two brands.
"The improving economic environment is encouraging growth in the commercial sector and ANZ has been well positioned to capture the opportunity, growing comfortably above system," Smith said of New Zealand.
In international and institutional banking, transaction banking has performed well with solid growth in trade and cash management especially in Asia and New Zealand, Smith added.
"We are seeing some top line momentum in New Zealand," said Smith.
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