Heartland Group Holdings Limited Analysis

Overview

Heartland Group Holdings Limited (NZX:HGH) is a financial services group with operations in New Zealand and Australia.

In New Zealand, Heartland Bank Limited (NZX:HBL) is a registered bank that focuses on 'best or only' banking products in three key markets: Household (which includes investment products, consumer lending, reverse mortgages and motor vehicle lending); Business; and Rural. In Australia, Heartland is a specialist provider of reverse mortgage loans and also provides funding to partners in the Small Business and Consumer Lending sectors.

Since first listing on the NZX Main Board in February 2011, Heartland has successfully progressed through several strategic phases, establishing itself as a specialist financial services group that is listed on both the NZX Main Board and ASX under a Foreign Exempt Listing.

A corporate restructure of the Heartland group was implemented in October 2018. For announcements prior to 1 November 2018 relating to Heartland shares, please refer to Heartland Bank Limited's listing (NZX:HBL).

Performance

The following information was extracted from Heartland Bank Limited's market update, released on 23 April 2026:

Heartland trading update

Heartland Group Holdings Limited (Heartland) (NZX/ASX: HGH) today provides a trading update for the three-month period ended 31 March 2026 (3Q2026). Heartland remains on track to deliver an underlying return on equity (ROE) of at least 7% and underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of at least $85 million for the financial year ending 30 June 2026 (FY2026).

‒ Average net interest margin (NIM) expanded further, with some compression expected in the fourth quarter of FY2026 (4Q2026).

‒ Heartland’s cost-to-income (CTI) ratio saw an overall reduction, driven by improvement in Heartland Bank Australia Limited’s (Heartland Bank Australia) CTI ratio.

‒ Heartland Bank Limited’s (Heartland Bank) asset quality continued to improve, with higher impairment expense from non-strategic asset (NSA) provisioning and write-offs in Motor Finance as Heartland Bank continues to clear Motor Finance non-performing loans (NPLs) between 180 and 364 days past due (on track to clear by 30 June 2026 ).

‒ Strong performance continued in Reverse Mortgages for both Heartland Bank and Heartland Bank Australia, and in Heartland Bank’s Rural portfolio.

‒ Heartland Bank saw a return to growth in Motor Finance and Asset Finance in 3Q2026.

Notwithstanding this positive 3Q2026 result, given the ongoing uncertainty in the Gulf region, Heartland remains cautious and is closely monitoring potential impacts on customer demand and credit quality in New Zealand and Australia.