Media Release

BankSA today announced an 8% increase in net profit after tax to $199 million for the year ended 30 September 2016.

The result was underpinned by strong growth in deposits, home lending and small business, a significant increase in customers, and an improvement in impairment charges compared to the previous 12 months.

Key highlights include:

• Home lending up 5% to $15 billion.
• Deposits increased 5% to $13 billion.
• Small business lending up 8% and small business deposits up 9%.
• Completion of branch refurbishment program, including installation of video conferencing technology.
• Net customer growth almost three times South Australia’s population growth.

BankSA Chief Executive Nick Reade said the bank’s growth amidst challenging market conditions proved that BankSA’s transformation agenda was resonating with South Australians.

“Despite the market in South Australia being more subdued compared to other parts of Australia, the modernised BankSA is attracting more customers, which has resulted in a significant increase in our customer base of nearly three times the state’s population growth,” Mr Reade said.

“At the same time, BankSA exercised good control of expenses and increased productivity, while impairments recorded a significant improvement.”

Increases in deposits and home lending were also highlights this year, as South Australians continued to seek out a trusted, local brand during times of uncertainty.

The strong growth in deposits is reinforced by the bank’s unwavering commitment to helping customers with their savings, a commitment that was acknowledged by AdvisoryHQ when it named BankSA as one of the best banks in Australia thanks to its Maxi Saver high-earning savings accounts.

Mr Reade said another highlight was BankSA’s support for South Australian businesses and, in particular, small to medium businesses, where the bank saw 8% growth in lending and a 9% increase in deposits.   

“We also held our number one net promoter score for business banking throughout the year, which shows that our service is going a long way towards building customer loyalty,” he said.

“It’s pleasing to see our efforts in evolving BankSA into a robust and modern bank for future generations attract more South Australians and South Australian business, as well as accelerate growth in the process.”

Central to the bank’s transformation has been improvements to its customer service channels, including a substantial investment in the upgrade of BankSA’s branch network, and digital innovation and technology.

Since late 2013, BankSA has progressively refurbished branches in its network – the state’s largest.

In addition to redesigning the layout of branches to remove the old fashioned ‘behind partition’ style of banking, BankSA has installed video conferencing technology in 59 branches – 26 metro and 33 rural branches – which enable customers to connect live with subject matter experts.

Mr Reade said that investment in innovative technology remained a key focus for the bank, with nine out of 10 transactions taking place using a digital or mobile banking channel.

“In order to stay competitive in a 24/7 global economy, it’s imperative that we continue to deliver increasingly more convenient and accessible banking solutions,” he said.

“This year we launched a world-first app feature, Connect, which draws on pre-existing authentication from our customers’ fingerprint logon or four-digit password, which allows us to automatically identify our customers when they contact us for help.

“Close to 70% of calls made to our contact centre are from a mobile phone and Connect has reduced the average call resolution time by 25% - representing a significant step forward in bringing together traditional contact centre services with the mobile world.

“With over 480,000 South Australians and Territorians choosing to bank with us, we’re committed to exceeding our customers’ expectations and changing needs, now and in the future.”

Notes:

• All comparisons refer to the year ended 30 September 2015, against the year-end September 2016.

 

Media contacts:

Megan Grey
0466 320 662
greym@banksa.com.au

Jayne Flaherty
0478 335 544
flahertyj@banksa.com.au