Bank of New Zealand has reported a healthy growth in profits which makes it the third major bank to report better results. It is being felt by economists that this is a proof that recession may be over and business environment has turned positive.

The banks earnings rose by 7.1%during the last six months. The earnings from the core banking operations stood at $255 million. The figures show an improvement over the last six months but a decline compared to the same period last year. The bank also reported a better provision for debt at $88 million which is in line with expectations.

Andrew Thorburn, BNZ Chief Executive was very happy with results and stressed that this was due to a better performance by the bank during the last six months.

The profit for the BNZ group also increased by 3.8% to $415 million. The group's operations also include New Zealand banking and wholesale business. The bank's total capacity ration stood at 12.03% which is higher than the minimum 8% as required by the regulators.

The bank managed to increase its performance despite highly competitive market conditions. It posted a 9.1% increase in volumes compared to last year and retail deposit market share increased to 17.5% from 16% in the same period last year.

BNZ also opened five new BNZ Partners Business Centers and plans to open 14 more centers in the coming days.