Bankwest records $339m cash NPAT for H1FY18

• Cash net profit after tax (NPAT) of $339 million for financial year ended 31 December 2017, up 17% on prior comparative period*
• NPAT growth reflects income growth, flat expenses and lower loan impairment expense
  
• Operating performance of $517 million, up 11% on prior comparative period
  
• Operating expenses of $368 million, flat on prior comparative period
  
• Total banking income of $885 million, up 6% due to repricing and lower funding costs, combined with solid east coast volume growth and lower levels of attrition
  
• Loan Impairment Expense (LIE) of $30m, compared with $50m in prior comparative period, reflecting stabilisation in home loan and commercial books after period of deterioration.
  

Commenting on the results, Bankwest Managing Director Rowan Munchenberg said:

'Our solid performance reflects Australia’s economy with strong home loan performance on the east coast and challenging economic conditions in WA.

Despite WA’s challenges we have continued to support our customers and communities and recent economic indicators suggest WA is now in the early stages of a return to modest growth.

We are also beginning to see the strategic decisions we have made to refocus our business on retail and small business customers nationwide and to strengthen our position in WA contribute positively to our overall performance.

In the year ahead, Bankwest will continue to deliver its growth strategy by evolving and improving our stores, digital and broker offering and by adopting new ways of working to meet rapidly changing customer needs.'

Year-on-year highlights included:

• 6% home loan growth, with particularly strong east coast growth
• 6% business loan growth driven by demand from Property and Corporate customers (ahead of the 4% growth seen in the business lending market in WA)
  
• 11% growth in total deposit balances, driven by growth in Investment and Transaction deposits
  
• 5% increase in transaction deposits, driven by our continued focus on improving customer experience across all channels
  
• 3% growth in Main Financial Institution (MFI) customers.
  

Notes to editors

*Bankwest results and comparative information have been restated to reflect the transfer of Bankwest’s east coast business banking operation to CBA.

Contribution to the economy

• In the first half of FY18 we paid $150 million in taxes and spent $185m million with our suppliers and partners
• Our support of community groups through grants, scholarships and financial donations of money, resources and time positively impact communities across Australia, particularly in our home state of WA
  
• We invested around $2.8 million in the community, including $2.1m in WA
  
• We continue to make an important contribution to the overall CBA Group result, the Australian economy and the communities in which we live and work.
  

Customers

• Launch of Easy Instalments on all Bankwest credit cards, allowing customers to convert large purchases into smaller equal repayments at a lower interest rate
• Launch of new broker 'one-stop-shop' website
  
• Winner of Brand Campaign of the Year award for the 'Closer Than You Think' customer campaign
  
• Removal of OFI transaction fees on our Bankwest-owned ATMs
  
• We helped 13,700 people buy a new home, including 2,900 first home buyers
  
• We helped more people save for their future with 106,000 new deposit accounts
  
• We’re significantly boosting our investment in technology so we can build our capabilities in cloud, analytics and an API-enabled core banking system.
  

People and culture

• AIM WA Pinnacle Award for Workplace Diversity Excellence
• 1 year anniversary since the launch of Mosaic colleague cultural diversity network
  
• Over 600 colleagues went through Unity (LGBTI awareness) and Mosaic training
  
• 26% of our people have now been through Unity training and 19% through Mosaic
  
• Bankwest Foundation awarded their 200th scholarship through partnership with the Australian Scholarships Foundations
  
• More than 1400 Bankwest employees volunteered, investing more than 5,700 hours in the community.
  

For more information contact:

Russell Yeo
Bankwest Senior Manager, Media & Communications
0421 637 028
russell.yeo@bankwest.com.au