Sky stretches for Australian Unity

Big Sky Building Society took a step up in the Australian Unity investment portfolio over the last year, accounting for A$700 million in assets and 17 per cent of group total in the year to June 2014 (up from 16 per cent the previous year).

BHP and BP credit unions are the chief predecessors to Big Sky Building Society, an entity whose financial record is now cloaked in that of Australian Unity.

"In its second full year as part of Australian Unity Investments, Big Sky Building Society now has total on-balance sheet assets of more than $700 million, up from $618 million in 2013," Big Sky said.

Big Sky "experienced strong lending growth during the year, making a record number of loans, with $168 million in loans funded," it said.

"This growth significantly outperformed all three competitor banking sectors: major banks, major regional banks, and other building societies," it claimed.

Big Sky also has $639 million in funds under advice within Big Sky Financial Planning, up 12 per cent in a year.

The increase was primarily due to the integration of Brisbane based HN Financial Partners following its acquisition in 2013, with "strong client retention and inflows, and positive investment returns on client portfolios," according to the Australian Unity annual report.

No earnings were stated for the building society.

Retirement community property development activities made good progress in 2014.

Group Managing Director Rohan Mead said revenues for the year increased 7.2 percent to $1.3 billion. This rise included increased revenues from all its business operations.

$126 million in new retirement community facilities were completed during the year with $447 million in the development pipeline.

"The Retirement Living business improved its financial contribution (adjusted Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation—EBITDA) by 69 percent, to $21 million from $13 million.

Net profit for Australian Unity for the year ended was $29.6 million compared to $29.4 million for the same period in 2013, an increase of 0.8 per cent.