It was great to see a Dunedin-based company doing well nationally; there was something about Dunedin that generated a really strong partnership approach to business, chief executive Chris Lamers said.
"That Dunedin-ness is really important to our success, that ability to form long-term partnerships," he said.
The New Zealand Herald reported the index showed a return growth across most key indicators, reversing the contraction seen last year.
The combined asset base of the Top 30 increased by 3.2%, rising from $732,848m in 2024 to $756,000m in 2025. That contrasted favourably with the 0.9% decline recorded last year.
ANZ remains firmly in the top position, with total assets of $199,176m, representing 2.5% growth year-on-year.
Westpac continued to hold second place, with assets increasing 2.0% to $135,501m and profit of $1253m. Further down the rankings, SBS Bank moved up to ninth place, rising from 11th in 2024.
As with previous years, it is noted that certain financial institutions may have released unaudited earnings announcements not reflected in the index.
Mr Lamers said MTF’s growth had been due to a good ownership model and "doing the basics right".
"Do the right thing by people and they’ll look after you". About 60% of its business was repeat customers.
The company had done "pretty well" in a stiff headwind economy-wise and he hoped 2026 would be more of a tailwind.
October, November and December had been the company’s three best months this year. Auckland was starting to pick up, the Central North Island was strong while the South Island was "just rock solid".
For 2026, the company intended focusing on just a few things, trying to do them really well. A big technology rebuild would be completed, business lending was about 35% of what MTF did and there were opportunities to grow that figure, and some exciting products would be launched later in the year.
"Next year for us, all the hard yards we’ve done over 18 months, we’d like to see that come to fruition and growing market share," he said.
The company was also looking for ways to support its customers more and also to support communities.
