ASB bad debt provisions up, but savings inflows strong

Commonwealth Bank of Australia released its March quarter trading update on Wednesday, announcing it would cut its final dividend 25% to preserve capital in an uncertain environment. The update did not include full results for the March quarter, but did include some commentary on the performance of its ASB unit in New Zealand. CBA said ASB's provisions for bad debts had increased off a very low base in the quarter because more customers were behind with their payments. But it said ASB had grown its term deposit and savings volumes in an intensely competitive environment for domestic savings. "In a challenging economic environment, ASB's customer lending portfolio grew, albeit at a slower rate than in the recent past, with rural lending volumes remaining robust," CBA said in its March quarter media release. "ASB continues to attract strong funding volume into its diverse range of savings and investment products, assisted by the flight to quality following the collapse of a number of finance companies in New Zealand," it said. "Deposit price competition remains very intense. ASB's loan provisions have increased off a very low base, reflecting higher portfolio arrears." The full Pillar 3 update for CBA (similar to a New Zealand GDS) is available here. The pack of slides for Australian analysts has one slide (page 18) referring to New Zealand here. It shows ASB's retail deposit growth in the 12 months to the end of March was 14%, which was above growth in the banking system here of 10%. ASB home loan growth was 4%, above system growth of 3%. It also showed arrears for home loans falling in the March quarter, but arrears for personal loans and credit card debts rose.