ANZ's mortgage book -- the mystery continues

However, it appears from ANZ's New Zealand branch's disclosure statement - which includes all the bank's activities in this country, including its subsidiary - that the mortgage book didn't grow as strongly as the subsidiary's disclosure statement, published on May 21, suggested.

The subsidiary's accounts, which included amounts for mortgages sold to the branch, suggested ANZ's mortgage book grew by about $500 million in the quarter.

Three different measures of the mortgage book included in the branch's document suggest the mortgage book grew by either $30 million, using the same figures goodreturns.co.nz has used since 2002, or by $134 million, derived from ANZ's note on loans and advances, or by $182 million, derived from its loan-to-valuation table, including both drawn and undrawn mortgages but excluding commitments to lend.

ANZ's mortgage lending including both drawn and undrawn mortgages and commitments to lend totaled $56.92 billion at March 31 but no equivalent figure can be derived from its December document.