Great Southern Bank is hitting its stride after deciding to go it alone.
Just weeks after revealing that the customer-owned bank had walked away from merger talks with fellow customer-owned bank P&N Group (Police and Nurses Limited), Great Southern reported increased profits and a growing home lending business.
For the six months ending 31 December 2025, Great Southern's net profits after taxes were $27 million, up from $17.2 million during the same period last year.
Home lending remained a major growth driver, increasing 4.2% to $18.2 billion, year-over-year, and expanding across every Australian state and territory, including markets outside the bank’s traditional footprint.
In Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria there were double-digit increases, up 19.92%, 11.64% and 10.30%, respectively, while home lending in Australia's Northern Territory grew 8.35%, and Queensland saw a 6.4% jump during the period.
“Owning your own home remains at the heart of many Australians, and we’re pleased to support them on their journey with increased lending," said Paul Lewis, Great Southern's chief executive officer.
"We’ve grown faster than the market," he added. “We are extremely pleased with the strong momentum we are building."
Much of the momentum can be attributed to updated government housing schemes, including the Home Guarantee Scheme, which launched in October and requires only a 5% deposit, opening the door for more Australians to jump on the property ladder.
Brokers have reported increased inquiries into home lending since late last year, driven by Australia's persistent housing shortage, worries that interest rates might go up again and social pressures to get into the housing market.
"There's a lot of fear of missing out, particularly for the first-time homebuyers," Luke Ashby, mortgage broker and finance specialist at Brisbane-based Emerge Finance, told Australian Broker.
Great Southern also reported "solid growth" in its small- and-medium-sized entrepreneurs (SME) customers, as tighter banking regulations and ongoing business expansion across Australia drives demand for funding.
The bank's record results come just weeks after walking away from a proposed merger with P&N.
The potential deal, which was revealed in September, would have combined Great Southern with P&N Group — operator of P&N Bank and BCU Bank — creating one of Australia’s largest customer-owned banks with combined assets of around $30 billion. The merger would have also help extend Great Southern’s existing presence across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland into a larger national footprint, leveraging P&N Bank’s strength in Western Australia alongside BCU’s reach in Northern NSW and Southeastern Queensland.
