Auswide Bank has reported strong growth in its loan book and its margin in the December half, thanks in part to its rugby connections. The value of the bank's loan book rose 5.4 per cent to A$3.2 billion (mortgages made up $2.99 billion of that), which was well ahead of system. Home loan settlements during the half rose 10.8 per cent to $333.8 million. The strong growth in the loan book was a continuation of the bank's 2018/19 performance, when its loan book grew 6.3 per cent. The net interest margin was 1.95 per cent - a big increase from 1.88 per cent in the previous corresponding period. Auswide managing director Martin Barrett said growth in lending was helped by the improved brand awareness from the bank's partnership with the Queensland Rugby League, which is now in its second year. The improved NIM was a result of strong flow of customer deposits into lower cost at-call accounts. Customer deposits rose 12.6 per cent to $2.5 billion, representing 72.9 per cent of funding. At-call deposits were up 24 per cent. Auswide made a net profit of $9.2 million for the six months to December - a 9.3 per cent increase over the previous corresponding period. Net interest income rose 10.9 per cent to $34.5 million and non-interest income rose 0.3 per cent to $5 million. The bad debt charge jumped from $384,000 to $826,000. However, arrears fell from 42 basis points of the loan book to 39 bps. The cost-to-income ratio fell from 64.8 per cent to 62.9 per cent.