ASB has posted a NZ$274 million bottom-line turnaround in the September quarter as impairment losses disappeared off the bank's income statement.
The bank's General Disclosure Statement for the three months to September shows it recorded a NZ$150 million unaudited profit for the quarter this year compared to a NZ$124 million unaudited loss in the same period last year.
The dramatic turnaround came as ASB recorded a NZ$1 million impairment recovery compared to NZ$77 million of impairment losses in the September 2009 quarter.
A lower tax bill also boosted profit, with the bank paying NZ$65 million worth of tax in the three months to September this year compared to NZ$244 million in the September quarter last year when ASB booked provisions totalling NZ$208 million (NZ$130 million for core tax and NZ$78 million for interest costs) for its structured finance transaction dispute with the Inland Revenue Department.
Meanwhile, ASB said its interest income fell 3.2% to NZ$974 million from NZ$1.006 billion and interest expenses fell 9.8% to NZ$674 million from NZ$747 million. This saw net interest earnings rise NZ$41 million, or 15.8%, to NZ$300 million.
ASB's lending has contracted by NZ$18 million since June with unaudited advances to customers standing at NZ$53.459 billion at September 30, down from an audited NZ$53.477 billion at June 30. Over the same period deposits from customers rose NZ$245 million to NZ$31.728 billion from NZ$31.483 billion.
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