ASB CEO Barbara Chapman Resigns

ASB CEO Barbara Chapman Resigns

By Sophie Boot

Oct. 2 (BusinessDesk) - ASB Bank's chief executive Barbara Chapman will resign at Easter next year, the bank said.

Chapman has held the role since April 2011.The bank said it has begun recruiting her replacement.

Chair Gavin Walker said Chapman had been a "passionate and effective" CEO and had played a key role in the bank lifting annual profit from $568 million in 2011 to over $1 billion in the most recent financial year-end.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia's New Zealand earnings in the year to June 30 were boosted by a 13 percent gain in ASB Bank's cash profit, as the kiwi lender benefited from smaller charges on bad debt and stripped out costs to keep on top of shrinking interest margins. ASB's cash profit, lenders' favoured earnings measure, rose to $1.03 billion from $914 million a year earlier. Net profit, which includes unrealised movements in the value of financial instruments, jumped 17 percent to $1.07 billion.

"The board, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia as shareholder, are grateful for Barbara’s leadership and dedication to ASB’s long-term success. She has built an outstanding leadership team that will continue to seamlessly execute the bank’s strategy to achieve its goals and vision," Walker said.

Chapman said being CEO had been the highlight of her career, and she is now "excited to be able to take some time to think about areas of future interest and challenge.”

ENDS

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