TSB profit up 20% as net interest income rises, impairment charges remain flat

TSB Bank increased its net profit by 20% in the six months ended September 30 from the same period a year ago as net interest income rose 18% and impairment losses remained relatively stable, the bank's latest General Disclosure Statement shows. TSB recorded a net profit after tax of NZ$29.3 million for the six months. Interest income fell 10% (NZ$14.7 million) to NZ$131.2 million from a year ago, while interest expenses fell 23.8% (NZ$23.4 million) to NZ$74.9 million. This meant net interest income for the bank rose 18.2% to NZ$56.3 million. TSB charged NZ$1.285 million of impairment losses to its income statement, up only slightly from NZ$1.25 million in the six months to September 30, 2008. Other banks have reported a tripling of bad debt charges over the last year. Past Due assets rose by near 40% from a year ago to a balance of NZ$19.3 million at the end of the period, although this was down from NZ$24.4 million at March 31. Of the past due assets, NZ$5.3 million were over 90 days. This was up from NZ$4.2 million a year ago, but down from NZ$8.1 million at March 31.

TSB's impaired asset balance at September 30 was NZ$5.3 million, up from NZ$1.6 million a year ago and NZ$2.4 million at March 31. Total provision for impairment loss was NZ$15.7 million, up from NZ$12.6 million a year ago and NZ$14.4 million at March 31. Loans and advances to customers totaled NZ$2.3 billion at September 30, up 10.3% from the year before. Residential mortgage lending rose 11.7% to NZ$2 billion over the year, while commercial lending fell 3.7% to NZ$112 million. Rural lending rose 7.8% to NZ$71 million. Total assets rose 19.2% to NZ$4.1 billion over the year. Other bigger banks have reported low single digit asset growth over the last year. Deposits from customers rose 19.6% to NZ$3.7 billion over the year. Retail term deposits were up 13% to NZ$1.8 billion, The big deposit growth appeared in on-call deposits bearing interest, up 28% to NZ$1.8 billion. TSB's total liabilities rose 19.3% to just over NZ$3.7 billion.