 |  | Peter Thodey
Managing Director Bank of New Zealand | | About Financial Services New Zealand
Bank of New Zealand is the face of the Group in New Zealand. We are a leading financial services company providing innovative and empowering financial solutions to all market sectors. Building and extending relationships have been crucial to the success of Financial Services New Zealand this year. The business enjoyed another year of strong profit growth. Net profit* increased by 21.6% to $310 million, largely driven by lending and deposit growth, margin management, continuing asset quality and cost containment. *Net profit excludes the after-tax impact of significant items The focus on increasing home loan market share contributed strongly to the result, with housing lending 17.9% higher than last year. Improving the customer experience
Initiatives aimed at improving the customer experience have been key drivers in our success during the year.  | | Customer Solutions Adviser, Hoshang Tata, at the Auckland Customer Contact Centre. | | | In February 2003, we launched a program based on enhancing our main customer communication and service channels. Included was telephone banking, where we significantly reduced the time required for customers to complete their telephone banking transactions, resulting in a 12% decrease in average call duration from 110 seconds to 97 seconds per call. Internet banking was relaunched in April 2002. Enhancing the service to make it more user-friendly has had a positive impact on customer satisfaction levels, which increased from 51% to 65% between April 2002 and September 2003. (ACNielsen September 2003). Internet banking has been growing faster than any other customer service channel. In addition, Bank of New Zealand made good progress in this year's University of Auckland Business School Residential Bank Customer Survey. Our residential customer satisfaction score increased from 57% to 71%. (University of Auckland Business School Residential Bank Customer Survey, September 2002 † September 2003.)  | | One of Bank of New Zealand's 'new look' home loan advertisements. | | | Bringing the brand to life
Bank of New Zealand undertook a brand program to re-energise and grow its brand profile in the New Zealand market during the year. Following customer and employee research, a brand position was established, focusing on the key brand values of leadership, empowerment and performance. Alongside staff communications, a number of customer-focused initiatives were introduced, such as re-branding debit and credit cards and a new look for our advertising campaigns. Home loan market share
During the year, we sought to increase significantly our share of the home loan market. A key element of our approach was to improve the retention of existing customers. A targeted customer-acquisition campaign backed by a comprehensive and integrated sales and marketing program was also undertaken. Helped by these campaigns, our home loan market share improved from 15.1% to 15.6% this year. We were one of only two banks in New Zealand to grow market share for the six months ended June 2003. (General Disclosure Statements of Banks June 2003.)  | New Zealand's Olympic rowing champion, Sonia Waddell, enjoying a Heart Children event.
Thanks to the generosity of our staff, customers and the wider public, over NZ$500,000 was raised this year for Heart Children. | | | Community-focused sponsorship programs
Perhaps the most significant demonstration of our active involvement in the community is The Bank of New Zealand Kiwi Recovery Trust. This high-profile environmental program was established to secure the future of New Zealand's national icon. Over the past 11 years, our staff and customers have contributed more than NZ$4 million to the kiwi recovery effort. We have also played a major role in assisting Heart Children New Zealand to raise awareness of the prevalence of heart problems in children and provided funding through sponsorship to help support the children and their families. Both these sponsorships owe much of their success to the activities of our staff, who have been involved in fundraising efforts at a community level, and the support of customers. Streamlining delivers best practice
Bank of New Zealand has been the first business in the Group to participate in the Integrated Systems Implementation (ISI) program. Over the past 18 months this has delivered standardised processes and streamlined systems † based on the SAP product † which have empowered staff to access their own personal information and undertake a range of human resource activities online. In addition, ISI provides key financial information to our financial specialists, operational staff and management, and it is also transforming the way our staff order and purchase goods. Work carried out to date in New Zealand has provided methodologies and experience that will benefit the rest of the Group.  | | Bank of New Zealand is the sole provider of currency exchange and bank services at Auckland International Airport. | | | Trusted relationships are key to our success
This year we again confirmed our position as the currency exchange and banking services provider of first choice for New Zealand's major international airports. Despite competition from all the major banks and several large international currency exchange companies, we successfully tendered to continue as the sole provider of banking services at Auckland International Airport for the next five years. This was followed by a five-year extension to our lease as sole provider of services at Christchurch International Airport. This continued presence at the two main airport gateways to New Zealand reflects the relationships and trust that have been built over a 30-year period and our expertise in currency exchange services. Committed to staff satisfaction
Programs to improve staff satisfaction continued to run at both a business unit and bank-wide level. This commitment to continuous improvement saw us carry out an Employee Opinion Survey during the year. The survey results showed a high level of employee satisfaction and are being used to develop priorities and ongoing action plans. | 
