State-owned Kiwibank posted a record $79.1 million profit for the June year, up massively on the previous year's $21.2 million, as interest rate profit margins improved, with more customers moving to floating rates.

Kiwibank chief executive Paul Brock said the result represented "a significant bounce back from the financial stresses of the last few years".

Kiwibank customer numbers grew to more than 800,000, which was nearly 10 per cent of main bank market share, the company said.

It increased loans and advances by 8 per cent from $11.5 billion to $12.4 billion. Customer deposits rose by 9 per cent  from $10.6 billion to $11.6 billion

Brock said the end of year result was very satisfying, although he cautioned that the economy was "not yet out of the woods" and provisioning for bad debts was still a concern.  

Total provisions for impairment losses stood at $91m as at June 30, slightly higher than June 30, 2011, at $87m.

The strong  profit was largely attributable to net interest income  that increased during the year as customers switched from fixed to floating mortgages. This margin compared to average assets has increased from 1.47 per cent to 1.79 per cent  year on year.

- © Fairfax NZ News