Bank of New Zealand Analysis

Overview

BNZ was incorporated on July 29, 1861 and its ultimate parent bank is National Australia Bank Limited. The businesses and affairs of BNZ and all of its wholly owned entities (the Banking Group) are managed by, or under the direction or supervision of, the BNZ Board of Directors and the BNZ Chief Executive Officer in compliance with the requirements and regulations of the Banking Group's primary regulator, the RBNZ. BNZ is a registered bank under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989.

The Banking Group is one of New Zealand's largest banking organizations and provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to retail, business, agribusiness, corporate and institutional clients. The Banking Group is organised into three major operating and reportable segments: Private, Wealth & Insurance, Corporate & Institutional Banking and BNZ Partnership Banking. These segments are supported by the specialist units of Customer, Product and Services, Corporate Affairs, Finance, People, Risk, Technology and Operations, and Transformation and Strategy.

Performance

The following information was extracted from the Bank of New Zealand's half year results, released 7 May 2025:

BNZ HY25: solid result in challenging economic environment

BNZ has reported a 4.8% decrease in underlying profit for the six months to 31 March 2025 to $1,075 million, reflecting a challenging economic environment and a highly competitive banking sector.

BNZ’s statutory net profit increased 4.3% on the prior year to $795 million.

BNZ CEO Dan Huggins says, “overall, this is a solid result in the current economic environment. It supports our view that despite the current uncertainty driven by global trade and tariff tensions, New Zealand’s economic fundamentals have improved.

“Looking beyond the current global volatility, we have confidence in the New Zealand economy and have delivered an impairment write back to reflect this.”

“BNZ remains focused on supporting New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses,” says Mr Huggins.

“This focus has seen more than 50,000 New Zealanders switch to BNZ in the first half of the financial year, as we continue to invest in more frontline bankers to improve customer service levels, reduce wait times, and open all our branches five days a week.

“It is also reflected in customer satisfaction, with BNZ moving into #1 position for our Consumer Net Promoter Score* (NPS).”

BNZ’s total lending increased $4.3 billion or 4.1% – with home lending up 5.6% and business lending up 2.0%.

BNZ also reported a significant increase in deposits up $5.4 billion or 6.8%. Term deposits continued to be the most popular choice, while BNZ’s Rapid Save – a market leading everyday high-interest rate savings account**- grew by $1.7b or 13.7%.