Banks set to hit profit target
The Heartland Group says it remains on track to achieve underlying net profit after tax of at least $45 million for the financial year ending June 30.
Net interest margin expanded by 28 basis points in its third quarter relative to the six-month period ended December 31, 2024.
Improvements have been seen in both Heartland Bank Ltd and Heartland Bank Australia. Third-quarter operating expenses remained stable with both on track to meet expectations for the six-month period ending June 30.
Cost-management programmes are in place to improve operational efficiency moving forward. Asset quality improvements are starting to show in the New Zealand bank’s motor finance portfolio after more prescriptive collections and recoveries policies were announced on February 18.
As a result, early recovery efforts for the motor-vehicle loans written off in February this year have exceeded expectations, the company reports to the NZX.
Heartland is focused on “sustainable and profitable growth”, and has seen “compelling” gross finance receivables growth in reverse mortgages and livestock finance in New Zealand and Australia.
