FY22 Results: BNZ backing business to support New Zealand

Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is well placed to support its customers through continued economic uncertainty as it released its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2022.

BNZ announced its statutory net profit increased by $92 million or 7% to $1.4 billion, driven by continued housing and business lending growth partly offset by increased expenses and credit impairment charges.

Supporting New Zealand businesses

BNZ CEO Dan Huggins says, BNZ has continued to stand behind its business customers, supporting them to invest in and grow their operations, as New Zealand’s economy has proven to be more resilient than expected.

Over the past 12 months, BNZ’s business lending increased by $2.5 billion (6%).

Agriculture plays a critical role in the health of the economy. As New Zealand’s second largest agribusiness lender, BNZ is actively backing farmers and growers, with new or increased lending to nearly 2,000 customers over the financial year.

Mr Huggins says, New Zealand’s business owners can be proud of the work they’ve done to support our economy and create jobs, despite facing labour shortages, inflation pressure and on-going supply chain disruptions.

“Businesses have proven to be the economy’s shock absorber. Having more New Zealanders in stable employment has helped them better manage financial challenges like the rising cost of living.

“While there will be more challenges ahead, there will also be opportunities. We’re doing our part to help businesses, by providing them with the tools they need to better serve their customers and make doing business simpler and easier.”

Helping customers and communities navigate uncertainty

“While New Zealand’s economy has shown resilience, and the majority of our customers are in good shape, with interest rate increases and the rising cost of living more New Zealanders are going to find it tough.

“We’ve supported New Zealanders facing these sorts of challenges before. Our advice to customers is talk to us. The sooner you get in touch the more options we’ll have to find a way forward together,” says Mr Huggins.

For nearly a decade, BNZ’s dedicated Customer Assist team has been solely focused on helping customers who are under financial pressure and in need of support.

This year, BNZ expanded its community partnerships to help even more New Zealanders access financial support if they need it. This includes supporting Good Shepherd NZ to offer all Good Loans interest free, working with PaySauce to provide more New Zealanders with access to their pay early if they need it, and supporting the expansion of Habitat for Humanity NZ’s home repair programme to help more New Zealanders live in warm, dry homes.

Transitioning to a more sustainable New Zealand

Mr Huggins says BNZ has continued to strengthen its range of sustainable lending initiatives to help New Zealand transition to a low emissions future.

“As a bank, we’re in a unique position to help drive change by creating incentives for our customers to be more sustainable. We’ve recently increased our funding available for initiatives embracing green technologies to support New Zealanders ambitions to make their businesses, farms or homes cleaner and greener.

“Looking ahead, we’ve committed to delivering $10 billion in sustainable finance by 2025.”

Thank you to our customers and our people

“I want to take this opportunity to thank BNZ’s loyal customers and employees for their continued support,” says Mr Huggins.

“As we have done for the past 160 years, we will find a way together to realise our customers’ ambitions and turn their goals into reality.”

Key Financial Items

Note: compared to the year ended 30 September 2021, unless otherwise stated.

• Statutory net profit of $1,414 million increased by $92 million (or 7%)
• Loans and advances to customers increased by $4.6 billion (or 4.9%) supported by home loan and business lending growth
• Customer deposits increased 4.3%
• KiwiSaver funds under management increased by $256 million, up 6%
• Total Capital Ratio 15.4% – more than $12 billion invested in New Zealand
• More than $600 million of payments to New Zealand employees and more than $500 million in New Zealand income tax paid in last 12 months

An unaudited summary of financial information for the year ended 30 September 2022 follows: