news, local news, Tasmania, coronavirus, Bank of us, results, mortgage loans, Paul Ranson

A Tasmanian bank has defied the coronavirus crash to achieve strong growth, while carryovers of mortgage difficulties quickly declined, an apparent sign of economic improvement. Bank of us’s client-owned mortgage portfolio grew by more than 9% to reach $ 923 million in 2019-2020. The bank said it was three times faster than the growth of the system. It approved home loans worth $ 265 million (down $ 14 million from the previous year’s record) and increased its market share by 15%. Total assets jumped 16% to $ 1.14 billion, as the bank saw record growth in new customers, gaining more than 1,000 active customers. Profit after tax increased 21 percent to $ 2.8 million. It was a good result in an environment of unprecedented low interest rates, said President Stephen Brown. “This result includes a conservative allowance of $ 827,000 for potential bad debts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. Managing Director Paul Ranson said he was unsure of how the Tasmanian economy will perform in the short to medium term, given the effects of the pandemic. Mr Brown said the bank had offered deferrals of loan repayments to borrowers in difficulty because of the coronavirus. “Deferrals peaked at 4.5% of our loan portfolio, but declined to 1% at the end of September, with expectations that most borrowers will return to normal repayment terms in the coming months,” Mr Brown said. “The level of deferrals is significantly lower than the industry average of 9 percent.” Mr Ranson said he was proud of the way bank workers responded to the pandemic and its disruption. “Our employees continued to place our customers at the heart of the bank and, as a result, we have ensured strong operational resilience and achieved excellent growth, continuing the strong growth momentum of recent years,” he said. . The bank said it had increased its mortgage market share by 150% since 2015. However, it said the 2018-2019 downward trend in housing finance activity in Tasmania continued. with a decrease of 14% in 2019-2020. “This decline accelerated in the last quarter due to the impact of COVID-19 and we are now back to 2016 activity levels,” he said. “While we expected the economy to take a long time to return to pre-COVID levels, we are optimistic about the opportunities in the Tasmanian market to continue to increase our market share.” While you’re with us, did you know that you can now sign up to receive the latest news and daily headlines straight to your inbox? Register here.

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A Tasmanian bank has defied the coronavirus crash to achieve strong growth, while carryovers of mortgage difficulties quickly declined, an apparent sign of economic improvement.

The bank said it was three times faster than the growth of the system.

It approved $ 265 million in home loans (down $ 14 million from the previous year’s record) and increased its market share by 15%.

Total assets jumped 16% to $ 1.14 billion, as the bank saw record growth in new customers, gaining more than 1,000 active customers.

Profit after tax increased 21 percent to $ 2.8 million.

It was a good result in an environment of unprecedented low interest rates, said President Stephen Brown.

“This result includes a conservative allowance of $ 827,000 for potential bad debts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Managing Director Paul Ranson said he was unsure of how the Tasmanian economy will perform in the short to medium term, given the effects of the pandemic.

Mr Brown said the bank had offered deferrals of loan repayments to borrowers in difficulty because of the coronavirus.

“Deferrals peaked at 4.5% of our loan portfolio, but declined to 1% at the end of September, with expectations that most borrowers will return to normal repayment terms in the coming months,” Mr Brown said.

The Managing Director of the Bank of us, Paul Ranson. Photo: Simon Sturzaker.

“The level of deferrals is significantly lower than the industry average of 9 percent.”

Mr Ranson said he was proud of the way bank employees responded to the pandemic and its disruption.

“Our employees continued to place our customers at the heart of the bank and, as a result, we have ensured strong operational resilience and achieved excellent growth, continuing the strong growth momentum of recent years,” he said. .

The bank said it has increased its mortgage market share by 150% since 2015.

However, he said Tasmania’s 2018-19 trend of lower housing finance activity continued with a 14% drop in 2019-20.

“This decline accelerated in the last quarter due to the impact of COVID-19 and we are now back to 2016 activity levels,” he said.

“While we expected the economy to take a long time to return to pre-COVID levels, we are optimistic about the opportunities in the Tasmanian market to continue to increase our market share.”

While you’re with us, did you know that you can now sign up to receive the latest news and daily headlines straight to your inbox? register here.