Bank of Qld profit jumps 19%

The Bank of Queensland has reported a 19.3 per cent increase in net profit to $28.712 million for the year to August 31. Expansion of the bank’s loan book helped underpin the profit, with lending approvals climbing 31 per cent to $3.7 billion, while total assets under management increased 27 per cent to $6.6 billion.

BoQ’s cost-to-income ratio fell from 76 per cent to 71.3 per cent. Mr Liddy said the target ratio for 2003 is 68 per cent and 64 per cent in 2004, despite plans to open another 20 branches over the next 12 months, bringing the total number of branches to 120. Over the 2001-2002 year the bank opened seven branches to total 99, of which 41 are owner-managed.

Mr Liddy doesn’t expect much fall in the demand for home loans, as he believes the Queensland market lags behind Melbourne and Sydney by 18 months to two years.