There is no doubt that fiscal year 2021 was a year of significant challenges for our customers, our team members, and the communities in which we live.
Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, the pandemic and natural disasters including floods, we have stood side by side with our customers through both the good and the tough times.
This year we continued to invest in improving and safeguarding the customer experience. We launched some of our most competitive ever products, invested in cyber resilience to protect our customers, and rebranded from CUA to Great Southern Bank to encourage more Australians to discover customer-owned banking.
More people are joining us, attracted by a vibrant, compelling alternative to the biggest banks, and where customer service is valued and profits are reinvested into building a better bank for our customers.
We are privileged to present this report in a year where we continued our progress towards building a resilient bank that is capable, competitive and relevant for all Australians.
Delivering for customers
Many Australians – particularly younger generations – feel uncertain or pessimistic about their ability to own their own homes. That is why we are providing unprecedented support for their needs, last year helping three times as many first-time buyers as we did in 2018.
We simplified our home loan applications process while reducing the average time to agree a loan, helped build a savings culture among young Australians with high interest paying accounts, and launched our lowest ever rate for a fixed home loan.
We are also big supporters of Government schemes to help with home ownership. Through the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme alone we have helped over 1,700 Australians purchase their first home with total lending exceeding $525 million.
We recognise that home ownership doesn’t just start with a home loan, and are very conscious of the need to support our many customers holding deposit products. That’s why we embed a strong savings culture in our customer offering through clever new products and online options including Save to Own, The Boost, The Vault, Home Saver and Home Saver Bundle.
During the year interest rates for our core eSaver accounts were consistently among the top five most competitive in the market compared to comparable accounts, including our Youth eSaver which offers market leading rates for under 18s. These efforts were acknowledged with the bank receiving awards including the Best Kids Savings Account and Best Regular Savings Account at the 2021 RateCity Awards.
Our most important technology launch was our scalable cloud-based Lendfast system last October which makes it easier and faster to get a home loan. Built to be the IT backbone of our future growth, by June Lendfast was processing a 60 per cent increase in applications. Over the same period the average time to agree a loan reduced by a full day.
Our Net Promoter Score measures the loyalty of our customers - perhaps the purest expression of customer advocacy – and remains far ahead of the big banks. To further improve our customer service we engaged with over 25,000 customers as part of our Voice of the Customer reviews, taking their feedback and making it part of our ongoing customer service commitments.
Cyber security threats continued to evolve throughout 2020. To safeguard our customers, we have been improving our cyber defence and resilience through a multi-year program with strengthened governance and assurance frameworks across our partners and suppliers. We also improved our capability to detect and respond rapidly to new and emerging threats.
We also commenced a major transformation program as we transition from traditional data centres to the cloud. This is benefitting our customers through faster and simpler services, while accelerating our speed-to-market.
Responsible banking
Great Southern Bank became carbon neutral in 2021. We offset an estimated 7,600 tonnes of carbon emitted during the year through partnerships with organisations like First Nations’ Cool Fire, and other renewable energy projects.
Our community support over the past 12 months was centred on financial wellbeing. Under our Financial Inclusion Action Plan, we focused our efforts on three key areas: housing affordability, family violence and digital exclusion. We dedicated $1.3 million during the year to ensure better social and economic outcomes at a time where many issues have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
Our work on the Connected Futures project with the Australian Red Cross and Infoxchange also won a global Shared Value Award for improving the digital and financial capability of people being excluded in an increasingly digital world.
We also continued to extend support to communities and customers impacted by natural disasters and the pandemic. While 99 per cent of the almost 5,400 members we helped during the peak of the crisis have now rolled off financial assistance, volumes are still 30 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels. We remain well provisioned to provide further pandemic related financial help.
Strong financial results
Our strong financial performance and profits enable us to deliver more value for customers.
Over the last year we welcomed a further 33,000 active bank customers while growing our deposits.
Following a first half in which we focused on maintaining sustainable margins and looking after customers, growth accelerated sharply in the latter half of the year. Our Group Net Profit After Tax was $49.1 million, up 31.6 per cent thanks to strong revenue growth, lower funding costs, and our strategic focus on helping more Australians to own their own home. CUA Health contributed $9.3 million in NPAT for the year, up from $6.1 million.
We finished the year with growth in total income (up 9.6 per cent to $328.3 million), consolidated assets (up 0.9 per cent closing at $16.30 billion), retail deposits (up 1.6 per cent to $11.26 billion) and a further improved capital adequacy ratio (up from 14.38 per cent to 14.58 per cent). Our strategic focus on growing transactional banking boosted retail deposits and attracted more younger customers.
While there remain uncertainties in the global and national economy, including the impact of further pandemic outbreaks, we are well provisioned for future headwinds.
Building a bank for today and tomorrow
Many of the investments and changes we have made over the last year ensure we are well positioned for growth.
The proceeds from the sale of CUA Health to HBF together with the option to raise capital, means we are well placed to seek opportunities to achieve scale and greater efficiencies. We are exploring this through partnering, acquisitions or other collaboration opportunities with a view to driving better customer experiences for more Australians.
At the same time, rebranding as a bank helped us address one of the key obstacles to our growth. We are reaching more Australians than ever before, especially those who hadn’t known what it meant to be part of a customer-owned bank – and they were delighted when they found out.
Our results are the outcome of the incredible hard work from our Great Southern Bank team, who throughout this testing year have shown flexibility, strength and determination. We are proud of their dedication, and the way they have turned to face each challenge while continuing to support our customers, and we would like to thank them for everything they have contributed.
In our 75th year, we know there are considerable challenges in front of us, and indeed in front of all Australians. We also know that, together, we can build a better future with you, our customers, at the heart of everything we do.
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| Nigel Ampherlaw | Paul Lewis |
| Great Southern Bank Chairman | CEO |