BNK reports near-record loan settlements

BNK Banking Corporation reported in its 3Q22 trading update its total lending settlements grew to $245 million over the quarter, an increase of 55 per cent year-on-year.

But it took a slight dip on the previous quarter that saw lending settlements hit $268 million.

Its total lending portfolio reached $2.62 billion, an increase of 8 per cent year-on-year, which included $686 million from the bank (on balance sheet portfolio), and $162 million from its BEN warehouse (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank).

Recently appointed chief executive Allan Savins said he was pleased that the business is “demonstrating” consistent growth in all key areas.

“We currently have the second highest loan application numbers in our history for residential loans,” Mr Savins said.

“This will likely translate into one of our strongest settlement quarters during 4Q22 as these applications transition through the pipeline.

“BNK is now in the position where we can demonstrate our consistent growth trajectory across settlements, loan portfolio and deposits.

“With our strong capital position following the Finsure sale, I expect our progress to not only continue, but accelerate.”

The bank offloaded its mortgage aggregator, Finsure, and its subsidiaries for approximately $152.2 million, equating to a gain on sale of approximately $100 million (before tax), which it said will be reflected in BNK’s second-half results.

CEO assumed

The bank also announced Mr Savins will assume the position of CEO, effective immediately, after serving as interim CEO in December 2021.

Mr Savins, who brings more than 35 years’ financial experience, was previously the general manager, banking and wholesale at BNK and executive director of Better Choice and took over from Brett Morgan.

BNK chairman Don Koch said Mr Savins had made a significant contribution to BNK over the past three years and was a “highly experienced” financial services industry professional.

“We look forward to his continued contribution as CEO in leading our growth strategy,” Mr Koch said.

“Looking forward, as a strongly capitalised entity, with substantial growth opportunities, we believe BNK has considerable capacity to build scale and profitability to generate significant value creation for shareholder over the medium term.”

Following the sale of Finsure, the BNK board has continued its strategic review to assess growth opportunities for its BNK and Better Choice businesses.

[Related: BNK offloads aggregator business]