New Zealand’s Co-op Bank has announced a NZ$20.2m profit before rebates and tax for the year to 31 March, up 9% on the previous year ($18.5m).
“It was a year of steady growth for the Co-operative Bank, delivering consistent, and sustainable profitability, underpinned by our purpose to grow together and share the gains with our customers,” said CEO Mark Wilkshire.
During the year, the bank says it grow customer numbers 3% to 181,718 and was voted #1 for customer preference (Consumer NZ People’s Choice Award 2024).
Home loan lending rose 8% to $3bn, while total deposits rose 7% to £3bn. The bank has $854m of KiwiSaver funds under management through Fisher Funds (up 22%) and handed out $2.5m in customer rebates.
“This year, we saw more New Zealanders finding out what it means to bank better as part of a co-operative,” said Wilkshire. “We have seen strong growth in home loan customers, and we are proud to have helped many New Zealanders into their first homes.”
The report also notes that 30% of its customers who drew down home loans with in the past year were first home buyers.
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“In the current environment, with cost-of-living challenges for many New Zealanders, we are happy to be able to help customers to purchase their first homes,” added Wilkshire.
“Overall, I am really pleased with our results, in customer satisfaction, balance sheet growth in lending and deposits, and our team’s contribution. We are growing and strive to be a leader in delivering high quality customer service and fair rates. We adamantly believe when we put people first, banking gets better for everyone.”
The bank says its profits will remain in New Zealand, with $2.5m to be shared with customers as profit rebates and the remainder to be reinvested in the co-operative.
“We have a forward-looking investment pipeline in place,” said Wilkshire, “so as well as sharing rebates with customers, we are investing in the people and technology we need for the future of the co-operative. This includes replacing our core banking system – a once in a generation investment – as well as other future-focused projects looking at customer needs and products.”
The bank was rated by customers as top in customer satisfaction out of all banks in New Zealand and was the 2024 winner of Consumer’s People’s Choice Award in banking. The Co-operative Bank has won the Consumer People’s Choice Award for eight of the last nine years.
“We are pleased that our focus on putting our customers first is felt by our customers,” said Wilkshire, “and always see this as a challenge to do even better going forward. This is helped by the fact that our customers are our owners, so they really are at the heart of what we do.”
