ANZ New Zealand's profit jumped 18 per cent to $930 million for the six months to March 31.
The country's largest bank's cash profit rose 42 per cent to $962 million after significantly reducing credit impairment charges and because of a strong home lending market.
ANZ New Zealand chief executive officer Antonia Watson said that the full impact of Covid-19 on the New Zealand economy had yet to play out, but sectors such as housing, construction and agriculture had proven resilient during the crisis.
"Across the economy, businesses have generally fared better than we expected so we've been able to release around 25 per cent of the additional credit provisions we had put in place since the start of the pandemic," she said.