Bank of us goes from strength to strength - 2020/2021 Annual Results

Bank of us grew its loan book to over $1 billion during the financial year, despite the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19.

Bank of us Chief Executive Officer Paul Ranson said he was unsure at the onset of the pandemic what impact the virus would have on the bank, its customers, and the wider Tasmanian economy.

“We’ve been part of the Tasmanian landscape for over 151 years. We’ve survived world wars, global financial crises, and pandemics – yet, like the rest of the world, it was difficult to predict where we’d be in a years’ time when COVID-19 hit.

“We are fortunate to have a high performance culture and as a result, we were able to adapt quickly and effectively to a new way of working – keeping our people and customers safe, and our operating environment stable.”

Bank of us FY21 key results included:

• A record $328 million in loan approvals, $50 million above 2019’s previous record and maintained market share.
• Maintained new customer growth, with total active customers increasing by over 700 to 31,800.
• Total assets grew by 8% to $1.24 billion.
• Loan book growth of over 10%, to $1.01 billion.
• Assigned a first-time credit rate of Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of BBB+ and Short-term IDR of F2.

Bank of us Chairman Scott Newton said despite the challenges faced throughout the year, profit increased, enabling the Bank to continue to reinvest in the business.

“After-tax profit increased significantly to $6.1 million, driven by growth, an improvement in our net interest margin and lower costs. This figure also includes a $1 million reversal benefit from a write-back of our doubtful debts provision that impacted last year’s profit result,” Mr Newton said.

“We’re in a strong position. As a customer owned bank, we don’t need to pay dividends to shareholders. Profits will be invested into improved technology, digital delivery, and capability – all of which are important for our long-term sustainability and delivering on our hi tech-hi touch experience for our customers.”

Mr Ranson said during the year the Bank had enhanced its digital technology and continued to support Tasmanian’s homeownership dreams.

“We implemented two new contactless payment options for customers, Apple Pay and Google Pay. We also launched our online portal for our mortgage broker partners. On the lending front, we introduced a history-making below 2 per cent fixed rate special for new lending.”

“We knew Tasmanians had enough to worry about. Knowing how much your loan repayment is each month is one less thing to worry about. The low fixed rate also gave those waiting to take the leap into home ownership the opportunity to do so.

“As Tasmania’s only customer owned bank, we can focus our support solely on Tasmanians. With a history of 151 years, we will continue to build value for our customers and do what we can to support the wider Tasmanian community.”