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The Queensland-based lender has lifted its underlying NPAT by 11.4 per cent to $15.6 million for the 2017 financial year as it looks to manage shrinking margins.
In a trading update this week, Auswide Bank reported just over 4 per cent loan book growth to $2.8 billion.
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“This was achieved despite modest growth in the first half of the financial year due to the rollout of the new LendFast loan origination system,” the group said. “The annualised loan book growth for the 2016/17 financial year was 4.01 per cent.”
The lender noted that net interest margins (NIM) continued to decline across the financial sector, exacerbated by interest rates at historic lows and the continuance of highly competitive housing finance markets across the 2016/17 financial year.
Its NIM for the 2016/17 year was 1.90 per cent compared to 1.96 per cent in 2015/16.
Auswide managing director Martin Barrett said that the management of the group’s NIM was “paramount” in this environment of historically low interest rates and intense competition.
Mr Barrett said: “Auswide Bank will continue to effectively manage the funding mix of retail and wholesale sources with an expected continuation of growth in customer deposits.
“Auswide Bank is also committed to meeting and proactively managing our current and any future regulatory requirements.
“We continue to invest in technology and process improvement, which is positively impacting our customer experience and assisting in growing our business.”
Mr Barrett said that Auswide will continue to focus on the growth of its home loan book with the LendFast loan system upgrade, Apply Online capability and process optimisation.
[Related: Auswide hikes rates by 40bps]
