Police & Nurses Limited (PNL) through its two customer-owned banking brands, P&N Bank (Western Australia) and BCU Bank (New South Wales and Queensland), ended the year with Group profit after tax of $19.5m, up 18% on the previous year.
P&N Group CEO, Andrew Hadley, said P&N Group had this year delivered strong financial results and built foundations to enhance its customer experience and operate more sustainably in the future.
“Deposits grew by 11% to $6.4bn, and our focus on helping more Australians purchase their home or refinance their existing property saw total loans under management increase 14% to $6.7bn,” Mr Hadley said.
The economic environment, fuelled by the unprecedented number of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) official cash rate increases, has no doubt impacted borrowers and, on the other side of the coin, benefitted depositors.
“The cost-of-living pressures facing most Australians will continue to be top of mind as we position our lending and deposit products as competitively as possible for all our customers,” Hadley said.
“The growth of our business this year can largely be attributed to our success in delivering compelling propositions, more seamless and personalised interactions, and a standout customer experience.
“Over the past three years, through the Group’s transformation program, we have prioritised replacing outdated legacy systems, processes, and products. Some of the benefits customers have already started to experience include a significant reduction in home loan approval times, with more than half of our simple home loan applications now approved in less than 24 hours.”
Scale remains imperative
With the 2023 mergers involving four of the six largest Australian customer-owned banks, P&N Group believe this is is an implicit endorsement of its strategy to grow the business naturally and through mergers.
“Our Group is currently the seventh largest customer-owned banking group in Australia by asset size, with the three largest customer-owned organisations now more than twice our size, and we view further consolidation of the industry as inevitable,” said Hadley.
“The retail banking industry is becoming increasingly commoditised, and given the critical investments required in digital banking, cyber security, technology, and regulation to name just a few, achieving scale through mergers can help ensure that we remain competitive and sustainable.”
Partnering for success
P&N Group recognise the important role that small to medium businesses play in communities more broadly and has a clearly defined strategy to invest in and support Business Banking customers.
“The Group’s Business Banking division continues to provide partnership support to our business customers through a relationship-led offering that centres on personalised service, industry expertise and customised solutions, empowering them to reach their goals,” added Hadley.
“In relation to our valued broker partners, our mission is to deliver a better overall broker experience with a more streamlined mortgage process that makes life easier for them and their clients. Our brokers have already benefitted from new web chat functionality launched to allow them to connect with our team in real-time, access immediate support and assistance, and receive accurate and fast feedback on applications in progress.”
Towards sustainability
The Group continues to increase its focus on sustainability to meet the expectations of members, communities, and regulators, and to ensure it thrives in the years ahead without adversely impacting the environment and society.
“The launch of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy last year marked a significant milestone for the Group and outlines our vision and roadmap which will see us integrate sustainability into our operations,” Hadley said.
Summary of FY22/23 results
- Net profit after tax of $19.5 million
- Net interest income increased to $158 million
- Total loans under management increased 14% to $6.7 billion
- Total deposit balances increased 11% to $6.38 billion
- Total assets increased 12% to $8.3 billion
- Total members’ funds increased to $577 million
- Capital Adequacy ended the year at 14.89%