Non-major grows loan book to $8.7bn

Newcastle Permanent released today (28 September) its results for the 2017 financial year, featuring a $38.9 million profit, almost $11 billion in total assets and higher home loan and customer deposit portfolio growth rates than any of the four major banks.

“In our 114th year of operation, we continue to punch well above our weight, growing faster than the four major banks in both home loans and customer deposits,” Newcastle Permanent chair Jeff Eather said.

The lender grew its mortgages by 8.5 per cent, compared to industry growth of 6.6 per cent, driving total loans to $8.7 billion.

“Our customer deposits also grew by an impressive 11.1 per cent, propelling total funding to $9.9 billion, and helping to make us the second-largest customer-owned banking organisation in Australia,” Mr Eather said.

Chief executive Terry Millett highlighted that the mutual lender refinanced almost half a billion dollars in home loans from the four major banks and their subsidiaries.

“We now have almost $2 billion in home loans in the Sydney market, showing that customers are voting with their feet for a better way of banking with us,” the CEO said.

“These results show the strength of our customer-owned banking model, which delivers better outcomes for our customers and communities without the negative consequences of the profit-maximising culture of the four major banks.”

[Related: Customers, brokers question bank ethics and culture]