During a financial year that saw Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) acquire ME Bank for $1.33 billion, the company has achieved a major uplift in profit to reach $369 million on the back of bumper cash earnings increasing by 83 per cent.
The strong profit result, more than tripling FY20’s net profit after tax (NPAT) of $115 million, follows four consecutive halves of improving performance even during periods of uncertainty driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While ME Bank is expected to double BOQ’s retail offering, given the purchase was completed in June its impact on the bank’s FY21 results was minor. Excluding ME Bank’s contribution to the parent, BOQ still tripled its NPAT to hit $352 million.
BOQ says cash earnings of $412 million for the financial year ending 31 August 2021 reflect the strong business momentum through the year, and despite the challenges of the pandemic, it is optimistic the continued vaccine rollout will increase consumer and business confidence, allowing it to execute its refreshed strategy and finalise the integration of ME Bank.
“The lower unemployment rate is a sign that economic conditions improved for the nation and we are well-positioned to capitalise on greater consumer and business confidence from the vaccine rollout,” says BOQ.
“We continue to execute on our strategy, the digital transformation and the ME Bank integration. We improved the digital experience for our customers as we delivered the first phase of the retail digital bank.
“This lays the foundation for all our retail brands to operate from a common cloud-based digital platform.”
BOQ will pay a final fully franked dividend of 22 cents per share, bringing the FY21 dividend to 39 cents per share, representing a 61 per cent payout ratio for the financial year.
Shares in BOQ are down 2.67 per cent to $9.46 per share at 11.11am AEDT.
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