The bank is well positioned to manage ongoing uncertainty and disruption, CEO says
Kiwibank has achieved a net profit after tax of $64 million for the six months to Dec. 31, up 16% on the same period last year, as well as outperformed the market in home loan and business banking growth, growing at a faster rate than the banking industry as a whole.
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“Total lending growth of $1.9 billion for the half (up 20% on the prior period) was driven by the strong housing market and solid demand, with above-market growth from our continued focus on the expansion of adviser channels,” said Steve Jurkovich, Kiwibank CEO. “Business banking growth was flat on the prior half, but well above the rest of the market. This was due to a refreshed strategy focused on key customer segments and high demand from the business sector to work with a trusted New Zealand brand.”
Jurkovich said the bank has also continued to make good progress on initiatives to improve customer experience, while ensuring that its products and customer service are “safe, reliable, and available.”
The HY results came at a time when the bank nearly doubled its investment in strategic transformation.
“2022 is shaping up to be a hugely exciting and pivotal year as we progress the capabilities needed across people, process, and technology,” Jurkovich said. “This will enable us to build a solid foundation that helps us create more consistent, reliable, and intuitive experiences for our people and our customers.”
Jurkovich confirmed that Kiwibank was partnering with fintechs and providers to support the delivery of its transformation, including Thought Machine for core banking platform, ACI Worldwide for real-time digital payments, and nCino for the bank’s lending origination platform.
“The transformation being undertaken and the local and global partners we’re working with makes Kiwibank one of the most attractive organisations to work for in Aotearoa today,” Jurkovich said.
He said the bank was well positioned to manage the ongoing uncertainty and disruption caused by COVID-19 and that it had plans in place to support the health and safety of both its employees and customers.
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“We haven’t seen material adverse impacts from the lockdowns or the pandemic to date, but we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Jurkovich said. “We are very aware that many customers and their businesses are fatigued from the multi-year effort they have put in and they are doing all they can to navigate COVID and the uncertainties it brings.”
