A non-major lender has reported solid growth in loan settlements over the 2015 financial year.
Auswide Bank recorded home loan approvals totalling $449 million in the twelve months to June 2015, an 8.5% increase compared to the previous financial year. The brought the non-majors total loan book to $2.33 billion, an increase of 4.8% from the 2014 financial year.
Auswide Bank managing director
Martin Barrett said the growth was balanced between first party and third party channels, resulting from training investments in the retail network and better management of the broker and mortgage alliance platform.
“In our first reporting period as a bank, Auswide has made significant progress in strengthening and repositioning the business, which has restored organic growth and continued to build the momentum for improving performance.
“We commenced a comprehensive branch and omni-channel transformation program, invested in training our distribution teams to improve financial performance and customer experience, and expanded our IT capabilities to allow us to more quickly and efficiently process loan applications.
“Through a combination of our rebranding, improved third party relationships and new online and digital services, for the first time Auswide Bank has truly national reach.”
Despite a competitive lending environment, Auswide also reported an increase in its net interest margin, from 175 basis points to 179 basis points.
Cash net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 7.4%, to $13.1 million. However, statutory NPAT declined 1.6% over the financial year, to $12.74 million. This was due to a one-off dividend from Mortgage Risk Management of $750,000.
