Kiwibank needs less help from Post

Kiwibank was now increasingly capable of self-funding its expansion through retained profits, the bank's CEO, Sam Knowles, said yesterday.

NZ Post tipped NZ$39.4 million into the bank over the year, the largest annual capital injection since Post, with support from the then Labour government, set up the bank, the New Zealand Herald reported. The bank trades through the NZ Post retail network and demand for the bank's services is maintaining the viability of many post offices (though Post continues to close some outlets).

Kiwibank last month reported a net profit of NZ$63.4 million for the year to June 2009, equal to a return on assets of 0.6 per cent and a return on equity of 19.6 per cent.

The bank funds NZ$6.7 billion out of NZ$10.3 billion in liabilities from the domestic deposit market.

Kiwibank remains an irritant to the larger banks, all Australian owned, who continue to assert the bank acts in an uncommercial manner.