How was the performance of HFC Bank the past financial year?
The results of the Bank in the past financial year is a milestone achievement where I see HFC Bank growing from strength to strength, being the highest net profit after tax for the institution. The past financial year was a full year of banking operations and we have posted a 32 per cent increase on the prior comparative period.
It is also to be noted that the profits we make goes back to the people of Fiji by way of Dividend payment to our Shareholders FNPF & Unit trust of Fiji.
The success for HFC Bank has been in the execution of its strategy i.e.  the continuity of delivering our products and services that meet our customers’ needs.
Strong Leadership and governance by the HFC Bank Board is also to be acknowledged. Our passionate and dedicated staff members have done well despite a very challenging market we operate in.
With Banking, we have begun penetration in the retail customer segment and we now provide banking solutions for our new and existing customers.
This is with great deposit and savings products, foreign exchange services, electronic banking solutions with Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Drua Pay, ATM’s and interchange with Westpac where our customers can access their funds via WBC ATM’s and EFTPOS.
We also offer insurance products with our insurance business partners TOWER Insurance and FijiCare Insurance Limited

Which areas were the best performers contributing to the positive results?
I must acknowledge our major stakeholder; our Customers that have confidence in us and their trust in HFC Bank has contributed to our positive results. We will continue placing our customers first and in the forefront in everything we do so that doing business with HFC Bank is easy and seamless.
Our passionate and hardworking Team who have performed exceptionally well with banking in this competitive industry we operate in. Our passionate and committed staff drive our performance.
Now on the areas that were best performers was our quality lending portfolio despite the shrinking margin and stiff market competition. Our Lending stream is the largest contributor to our net interest income coupled with other non- interest streams, boost in our foreign exchange with our treasury and trade finance set up, our Insurance product uptake plus containing our operating expenses within the forecast has been major contributing factors towards the results. Our customer deposits increased by 45% from prior comparative period.

What are some of the areas of concern which you will be looking at?
I would say not a concern but in every business we must be vigilant on Compliance, and yes Risks remains our focus with continued prudent governance frameworks in place. We also must maintain our focus on productivity and ensuring meeting the regulatory and compliance requirements plus our shareholders expectation. .

Any challenges you are faced with?
Challenges is a good thing. We welcome challenges as in a thriving business we grow with challenges.
An area we are looking at is our representation points. We would like to provide branchless banking type of concept and  services to our customers which means we introduce more electronic banking solutions and with this rather than more bank branches we complement this with providing our customers more electronic channels through which they can access their financial services . This would mean we continue to invest in our technology platform and work with our strategic partners to enable deliver to the wider geographic reach to our people of Fiji.  Technology as you will agree comes with a high-level of investment and our focus remains on the use of technology to improve all our channels, and to simplify our customers’ experience with us.

Which area has a lot of potential which you are looking to develop further?
We continue to ensure our Deposit and Savings products are attractive for our customers so we continue to drive a savings culture for a richer society for our future generation. We offer great interest rates on our Deposit products so we can give back to our people some savings by way of interest and in this we will continue to review our  products and services.
On the lending side we have the best Home Loan package and with Banking we have very good products and service for all customer segments, Corporate Business, Consumer /Individual customers, SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) clients and also Micro-Finance products for our upcoming business entrepreneurs.

With strong competition in the banking sector, how do you hope to remain profitable maximising returns for shareholders?
Being Customer Centric, placing our customers at the centre of everything we do. HFC Bank is known for its quality customer service and delivery, quick turnaround that includes continuously reviewing our products and services making them simple for our customers. We must provide a return to our shareholders no doubt and this we can only do so by living our Vision   – To Be Fiji’s Bank of Choice by Serving our People with Innovative Financial Services and Beyond.

HFC Corporate Social Responsibility …
HFC Bank is proud to serve its community. Apart from a focus on delivering results to its shareholders through dividend payouts and delivering quality service and products to its customers, HFC Bank has embedded a philanthropic culture. HFC Bank strongly believes in giving back to the community and making a difference in the lives of people.
Last financial year, HFC Bank spent over a quarter million dollars in community initiatives and projects. Moreover, HFC Bank committed a substantial sum to support numerus sporting, business, environmental and educational initiatives in the community through its sponsorship programmes.