ASB outpaces market in mortgage growth despite profit dip

In the six months ended June 30, ASB lent $2.61 billion in net new mortgages, 26.1% of all mortgages lent by registered banks according to Reserve Bank data, taking the book to $81.4 billion (on-balance sheet mortgages).

The Reserve Bank’s bank financial strength dashboard put ASB’s mortgage market share at March 31 at 21.1% - the June quarter data is due to be released on Aug 25.

In the year ended June 30, ASB lent $4.89 billion on new mortgages compared with just over $1 billion the previous year.

ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt said the result shows ASB has “strong momentum.”

“We are helping more New Zealanders into homes. Our new home loan customers are up almost 90% on last year, including 12,300 first-home buyers that we have supported into the property ladder,” Shortt said in a statement.

“More than 6,800 customers used their ASB KiwiSaver towards a house deposit,” she said.

“Many Kiwi locked in short-term rates when interest rates were higher, which led to almost 50% of loans across the country maturing between January and June. To get ahead of this, we recruited 80 new home loan specialists and simplified our processes to speed up application approvals.”

ASB’s net profit for the year eased slightly to $1.45 billion despite net interest margin (NIM) rising to 2.27% for the year from 2.23% the previous year.

That reflected a 10% increase in operating expenses to $1.42 billion while charges against profit for bad debts eased 14% to $60 million.

ASB’s parent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, reported a 7% increase in annual net profit to A$10.13 billion.

The parent’s slides showed ASB’s NIM was 2.3% in the first half and 2.25% in the second half compared with 2.24% in the second half of the previous year.

The parent’s slides said ASB’s growth in net interest income, which was up 5% in the year, reflecting higher home loan margins offset by lower deposit margins.

It said the 8% fall in other operating income reflected lower cards and lending fee income offset by higher funds management income.
The lower charges for bad debts reflecting declining interest rates that were partly offset by higher consumer finance write-offs and individual provisions.