Suncorp will look for growth in its banking business in its home state, Queensland. Suncorp's chief executive, Patrick Snowball, believes the bank is underweight in Queensland and has some competitive advantages there that it has not yet exploited.Snowball told analysts at the group's interim results briefing yesterday that Suncorp Bank had a nine per cent retail banking share in its home state.He said the bank had very strong brand recognition in the state and an extensive branch network - both of which should contribute to a higher share.The bank has been on a national expansion program in recent years, establishing 25 branches in New South Wales and Western Australia. Snowball said he was happy with the results of the campaign but now the bank was turning its attention to the market where its prospects were strongest.He said in the coming year the bank would increase the number of sales staff and its marketing spend in Queensland.Suncorp Bank's result for the six months to December was a mixed bag - a reflection of a business in transition.Last June it sold a A$1.6 billion portfolio of "non-core" loans (a mix of performing and non-performing commercial property and corporate loans) to Goldman Sachs. It sold another $700 million of loans through individual sales, leaving about $500 million of remaining non-core loans to be sorted out.The bank's December half net profit was $105 million - a big turnaround from the loss of $347 million reported in the June half last year.However, Snowball said he was not satisfied with some of the bank's metrics. The cost-to-income ratio was 59.6 per cent, compared with 57.1 per cent in the previous corresponding period. The net interest margin of 1.66 is low in comparison with peer banks (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which reported its interim results on Monday, had a NIM of 2.24 per cent for the December half).Snowball said: "There are still some transitional issues in the result, including the cost of legacy funding relating to the non-core portfolio."The last of this legacy funding will mature in August and the bank has set a NIM target range of 1.75 per cent to 1.85 per cent for the first half of the 2014/15 financial year.Investment in the Queensland business was the main reason for the increase in the cost to income ratio. The bank expects to have cost-to-income down to 53 per cent in the first half of the 2014/15 financial year and down to 50 per cent in 2016, when a new banking platform will be up and running.