ISCOVER
Residential lending has increased at the non-major bank, with the group’s new lending platform used by brokers driving growth.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited has released its financial results for the full year ending 30 June 2025 (FY25), revealing that its total loan book rose by 6.3 per cent over the year, to $85.9 billion.
Of this, residential lending was a core contributor, making up 77 per cent of all lending. Its home loan book rose 7.6 per cent year on year, to $66.6 billion.
The financial results mark the first time the group has reported full-year results since retiring its Adelaide Bank brand and making Bendigo Bank solely available to the broker channel.
The bank attributed residential lending growth to the new Bendigo Lending Platform (which first launched through the broker channel in pilot form in November 2023 before being launched more broadly in the last year), as well as stronger demand for digital mortgages, and improved contributions from its proprietary and community bank branch network.
According to the financial results, there was $18.0 billion in new mortgage flows written over the year.
Of this, the third-party channel (including brokers, mortgage partners, and white label brokers) originated 48.5 per cent, or $8.8 billion, of new residential mortgages (51 per cent in 1H25 and 46 per cent in 2H25).
Approximately half of new business written in the second half of the financial year was through the new Bendigo Lending Platform, which is said to be accelerating the time to conditional approval to five minutes.
A ‘favourable shift’ to proprietary
Around one-third (34 per cent) of the $18.0 billion in new mortgage flows came through retail lending via the proprietary channel. The retail channel delivered its highest level of settlements since 2019.
The banking group noted that there had been a “favourable shift” in its channel mix across the second half, with proprietary and Community Bank branches accounting for 38 per cent of residential lending settlements in the second half (up from 30 per cent).
The branch network is expected to increase its lending capabilities this financial year as the bank rolls out the Bendigo Lending Platform across its retail network of around 420 Community and Bendigo Bank branches.
Digital lending, which comprises the direct-to-consumer brand Up, as well as digital platforms NRMA, BEN Express and Tiimely (formerly Tic:Toc), made up $3.2 billion of the $18.0 in total flows. This increased over the second half to cover 16 per cent of all new home loans.
Its digital brand Up reported a 194 per cent increase in home lending over the year, with $1.7 billion in home loans. The digital banking brand grew its customer base by 29 per cent, closing the year with 1.2 million customers (40 per cent of the Bendigo Bank customer base).
Moreover, the banking group said that one of its strategic pillars is to ‘make life easy with digital’ for customers and ‘reinvent banking for a new generation of Australians with Up’. It also seeks to drive growth in lower-cost deposits.
Other core focuses for the banking group across to 2030 include continuing its technology rebuild, revising its operating model, and harnessing ‘strategic partnerships to support innovation and capability’.
Business lending increased 2.7 per cent over the year to $9.8 billion, driven by growth in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), commercial property, and portfolio funding.
Agribusiness lending ticked up 3.7 per cent over the year to $7.3 billion.
Overall, the banking group suffered a $97.1 million net loss after tax for the year, attributed to a $539.5 million goodwill impairment.
Richard Fennell, managing director and chief executive, said the results “demonstrate [the bank’s] balanced approach in a challenging and competitive environment”.
“The bank has delivered more moderate growth and stable margin in the second half of FY25,” he added.
“This is in contrast to the first half, where a significant increase in demand for our products placed margins under pressure.”
The banking group added that it will focus on “further activating” its “strong deposit franchise, leveraging digital onboarding and its branch network, implementing productivity improvements and “driving sustainable lending growth funded mostly by lower-cost deposits”.
You can find out more about Bendigo Bank’s new lending platform in The Adviser’s DISCOVER feature.
[Related: Bendigo Bank maintains strong residential lending growth]
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