Kiwibank gains to more than double

State-owned Kiwibank will today report a full-year net profit of at least $14 million, twice as much as last year.

Chief executive Sam Knowles flagged that it was on track to double its full-year result. A spokesman for the bank has confirmed that the result will be "more than twice" that of the $7.2 million reported for the 12 months ended June 2005.

As the bank grows towards becoming a serious contender to the four Australian-owned market heavyweights, Knowles has emphasised additional funding would be required from its parent NZ Post.

In February, Knowles said the bank - which had by then received $155 million in funding from NZ Post since it opened for business in 2002 - would require about $20 million every six months to meet capital adequacy ratios as its loan book continued to grow at $1 billion a year.

At that time Kiwibank had around 400,000 customers and was gaining them at a rate of 450 a day.

Knowles was confident growth would not be hit by softer economic conditions because, "when people's pocket books or cashflow get pressed they are looking more at value in banking, so there's more opportunity".

Since February, Kiwibank has acquired a majority stake in the country's largest non-bank home lender NZ Home Loans Co, reached a deal with Marac to distribute vehicle and commercial finance, and introduced a mobile phone banking service.