Home loan growth is not profitable 14 March 2008 5:26PM John Kavanagh St George Bank chief executive Paul Fegan said two weeks ago that the bank would have to add 15 basis points to the 25 basis points increase in the cash rate to cover its increased funding cost this year.JP Morgan senior banking analyst Brian Johnson said yesterday the figure was close to 50 basis points. Johnson said: "As the spread of 90 day bills over cash increases the banks have to deal with higher funding costs while the commissions they are paying brokers remain unchanged."The growth in banks' market share has been loss-making so far. The banks are keen to do something about that."Johnson predicted that banks would move to increase the share of loan origination through branches and reduce their dependence on brokers as a strategy for restoring profitability.