BNZ share of mortgage market shrinks

BNZ’s latest general disclosure statement shows net profit jumped to $260 million in the three months ended December from $171 million in the same quarter of 2007 with net gains on financial instruments, which include trading profits, rising to $111 million from just $28 million in the previous quarter.

The profit gain was despite impairment losses on credit exposures rising to $35 million from $12 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The bank’s on-balance sheet residential mortgages totalled $24.22 billion at December 31, down from $24.24 billion at September 30. At December 31, BNZ had another $2.16 billion in off-balance sheet mortgages, generally loans approved but not yet drawn down. That’s up from $2.13 billion at September 30.

Using Reserve Bank figures as a proxy for the market, BNZ’s mortgage book at December 31 accounted for 15.55% of housing loans by registered banks, down from 15.82% three months earlier.