Suncorp Bank – the best bank for middle Australia
Suncorp Bank is Australia's leading regional bank servicing more than 900,000 customers nationwide. Our aim is to be the best bank for middle Australia in personal, agribusiness, small business and commercial banking.
Events during the global financial crisis focused our attention on setting a clear strategy for Suncorp Bank which has resulted in a strong, stable and growing regional bank.
Our position in the market is also clear: we are a genuine alternative to the major banks, aiming to be the best bank for middle Australia.
Core Bank
In 2011 we achieved our key targets and initiatives. In particular, we delivered solid, profitable growth in lending, achieving our target of greater than system growth in home and core business lending. Our customer base grew by more than 6% to over 988,000 – tracking well against our target of more than one million by 2013. We ranked number one in customer satisfaction among business customers nationally and maintained a top-three position among personal banking customers as measured by Roy Morgan.
While Queensland mortgage growth was subdued following the weather events, we balanced this with healthy growth in other states. Our core business banking book has also expanded and is now larger than the non-core portfolio, a significant milestone in our stabilisation story.
Thanks in large part to these achievements, we have rebuilt confidence in our brand and have a strong offering backed by first-class customer service. All the changes introduced in the past two-and-a-half years demonstrate our ability to execute our plans.
Queensland remains the largest market for Suncorp Bank, which is also growing strongly in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The tragic events of summer 2010/11 highlighted our commitment to Queensland and our ability to respond when our customers and communities need us most.
Suncorp Bank is focused on building its core portfolios of personal, agribusiness, small business and commercial banking.
Non-core Bank
Following the global financial crisis, we moved out of high-end property and corporate banking, putting these portfolios into run-off. We have made excellent progress and continue to exceed targets in relation to the run‑off of the non-core portfolio in 2011. Non‑core loans reduced 38.7% or $4.9 billion during the year to $7.7 billion. Run‑off for the full year exceeded the initial target by $2.5 billion.
Exposures greater than $50 million reduced from 121 to 53 during the year. The impaired asset balances and actual losses have reduced over recent quarters and construction risk is now largely removed.
Next steps
Our strategic priorities include growing the core franchise in New South Wales and Western Australia by doubling our branch footprint and tripling our customer base in those states.
Suncorp Bank's growth aspirations include expanding our total customer base to more than one million and increasing 'complete customers' – those with three or more Suncorp products – by 50%. A focus on simplifying systems and processes and investing in our people will support our objectives of delivering a cost-to-income ratio in the mid 40s and sustained return on equity greater than 15% in the core bank.
