Less than a month after becoming a mutual bank, IMB Bank announced a record profit of $32.5 million on Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Chief executive Robert Ryan told members and staff it was a $3.4 million or 11.8 per cent increase on the previous financial year.
Mr Ryan said it did include a $2.9 million profit on the sale of IMB Bank’s head office building, but even allowing for that, IMB’s profit still grew by $500,000 or 1.9 per cent.
He said it was great to achieve such a result when the market continued to see historically low interest rates, subdued consumer confidence and strong competition for loans and deposits.
‘‘Despite that, our average interest margin for the year was maintained at 2.04 per cent,’’ he said.
‘‘Bad and doubtful debts expense was [$400,000], the lowest result for IMB in more than 20 years and a significant reduction on the previous year. This is an excellent result, reflecting the quality of our loan book across both the secured and unsecured loan portfolios.”
Mr Ryan said IMB Bank’s home loan products would remain some of the most competitive in the market.
Chairman Michael Cole said the board was pleased with the financial performance and stability.
An increase in loans was funded largely from growth in deposits, which increased by $283 million, or 7.5 per cent, during the year.
Retail funds also grew by $160 million, or 5.7 per cent.
Mr Cole said it was an exciting time in the history of IMB as it celebrated 135 years.
But it was also a time of innovation with IMB Bank introducing more efficient online deposit account processes.
Mr Ryan said that would allow existing and new members around Australia to open a new savings or investment account, on the device of their choice, in a matter of minutes.
‘‘We are also planning on launching an online mortgage loan process,’’ he said.
The board declared a fully franked final dividend for 2014-15 of 15¢ a share, taking the full-year dividend to 25¢.