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ME Bank has posted record mortgage volumes thanks partly to its massive growth in broker numbers.
The mutual reported $3.8 billion of home loan settlements for the 12 months to 30 June 2014. That marked an 18.7 per cent increase on the previous year.
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Third-party settlements jumped 143 per cent to a record $1.2 billion, as the number of accredited brokers grew 65.9 per cent to 4,800.
"The bank is confident that growth through this channel will continue strongly as new technology will enable improved service to be delivered," it said.
Home loans represented 95 per cent of ME Bank's lending in 2013/2014, during which the bank increased its mortgage book by 19.2 per cent to $14.3 billion.
ME Bank grew its overall customer numbers by 9.9 per cent to 312,000 – and further expansion appears likely.
As of this financial year, borrowers can take out a home loan even if they're not a union member or part of an industry superannuation fund.
That has increased the potential customer base of working Australians by 107 per cent, from 5.5 million to 11.4 million.
ME Bank increased its underlying net profit by 28.5 per cent to $47.4 million.
However, the headline profit figure fell 30.2 per cent to $28.2 million, due to an after-tax hedge revaluation loss of $19.2 million.
The bank's cost-to-income ratio improved from 74.7 to 71.1 per cent, while there was also improvement in its net interest margin, from 1.53 to 1.55 per cent.
Chief executive Jamie McPhee said ME Bank was focused on strengthening its balance sheet and strongly growing its customer numbers.
"Our nearly completed technology transformation program will be a key enabler for growth," Mr McPhee said.
"In an industry increasingly reliant on technology, the completion of this project in early 2015 will result in ME Bank having the technical platform to be a leader in the range and attractiveness of its products and services."
ME Bank has 18 aggregators on its panel.
[Related: ME Bank places eighth in annual non-major rankings]
