Police & Nurses Limited (PNL) ended the year with Group profit after tax of $24.2m, up 24% on the previous year, above system balance sheet growth, and a stable and resilient capital position.
P&N Group CEO, Andrew Hadley said the Group had achieved strong financial results while also delivering the foundations to enhance its customer experience and operate more sustainably in the future.
“Navigating the challenging economic environment, the Group balanced the provision of competitive interest rates with sustainable financial performance to protect long-term customer value,” Hadley said.
“We finished the year with net profit after tax of $24.2m, the result of our strong balance sheet growth, prudent margin management, and cost discipline, and we’re focused on opportunities to streamline and simplify our business for the benefit of customers.
“Delivering above market growth in lending and deposits, both up by 10%, our product and service offerings continue to appeal to and attract an increased share of the market, with 16,300 new customers introduced to the benefits of customer-owned banking.
“Our all-important capital measures remained broadly stable, with our regulatory capital ratio ending the year at 14.8%. Reflecting our robust credit practices and diligence in helping customers navigate their way through the difficult environment, loan impairment provisions levels remained consistent with the prior year at 0.08% of gross loans and advances.
“We continued to support and empower customers to make the most of their money and build a secure financial future, with home loan customers whose low fixed rate loans were coming to an end offered a competitive variable rate through a seamless same-day renewal experience to lessen repayment shock.”
An ever-changing banking environment
With the vast majority of the Group’s customers preferring to use digital banking with transactions up 12% year on year, the Group remains committed to giving customers the choice of how they wish to bank.
“Our strategic investments have been prioritised towards service excellence and delivering improved personalised experiences for customers. We continue to invest in technology and platforms to help us deepen our customer relationships and provide more consistent experiences,” Hadley said.
“To help customers into their new home sooner, we accelerated our decision-making processes and reduced application barriers, resulting in 60% of simple home loan applications being approved within 24 hours.
“Our broker partners also enjoyed a more simplified and streamlined experience which resulted in broker satisfaction increasing significantly in the past 12 months.
“The Group’s Business Banking division extended its support to the property development and investment sectors in WA and Qld, as well as providing ongoing support to the Agribusiness and general commercial sectors in NSW.
“With scams becoming more sophisticated and frequent, we continued to invest in technology, data and artificial intelligence, as well as comprehensive training and awareness programs for our people, to further reinforce our cyber resilience and fraud and scam awareness.
“Despite the recent announcement not to progress the merger with Beyond Bank, the PNL Board will continue to pursue opportunities to grow the business, both organically and through mergers.”
Our social impact responsibility
The Group continued to make headway with its Environmental, Social, and Governance Strategy to ensure it is sustainable in the years ahead without adversely impacting the environment, launching its Climate Action Plan, inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan and Gender Equity Strategy.
“As a customer-owned bank, we are passionate about reinvesting a portion of our profits to help the wider communities in which we operate. Over $700,000 was contributed to more than 160 community groups, charities and individuals in need during the year through community partnerships, grants, donations and in-kind support,” Hadley added.
Summary of FY24 results
- Net profit after tax of $24.2 million, up 24%
- Net interest income increased to $172 million, up 8.4%
- Total loans under management increased to $7.3 billion, up 10%
- Total deposit balances increased to $7.0 billion, up 10%
- Total assets increased to $8.9 billion, up 8%
- Total members’ funds increased to $589 million, up 2%
- Capital Adequacy ended the year at 14.82%, stable year on year
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