CSB Reports $1 Million Profit in Last Financial Year

Community Sector Banking has reported an after tax profit of more than $1 million in the last financial year, which CEO Andrew Cairns believes is due to the organisation aligning with the needs of the not-for-profit sector.

CSB – which was established 15 years ago and remains Australia’s only banking service dedicated to the NFP sector – posted an after tax profit of $1,008,496 in 2016-17.

Cairns told Pro Bono News this success had been driven by a “three pillars” strategy that aligns with community organisational needs and works to strengthen NFP capabilities.

“There’s been three pillars of focus for the organisation. We’re focused very much on ensuring that as an organisation we’re efficient, effective and aligned with the needs of the not-for-profit sector,” Cairns said.

“But we’ve also spent a lot of time working with the sector to enable them to strengthen their capabilities and capacity through their relationship with us.

“And it’s that working in a balanced approach with our clients, to ensure that we increase the prosperity and capability of everyone, which has underpinned a foundation of success for us.”

CSB chair David Thompson AM, also put the strong result down to the organisation’s alignment with NFP needs, in times of sector uncertainty.

“The sector is facing enormous upheaval with funding and regulatory challenges, mergers, and new schemes like the NDIS. What makes us unique is our ability to actively listen to the sector and co-design solutions,” Thompson said.

“Our strong result allows us to continue creating impact in the community, and to support a sector that millions of Australians rely on every day just to get by.”

Cairns said other social enterprises could learn from CSB’s success, by taking into account all stakeholders involved in the community ecosystem.

“I think the main element is thinking long term, about all stakeholders involved in the ecosystem and realising that community prosperity and sector prosperity can actually be achieved by sector and community investment,” he said.

“And if you look at the core that we actually have as an organisation, we are half-owned by a bank and half-owned by the sector… [And] it’s that magnetic and true north that keeps us guided in ensuring that we build shared values and outcomes, but also have the discipline of being a well-governed, well-compliant business in the marketplace.

“It’s that mixture of both corporate and mutual capability which enables us to work so well with the sector.”

He noted that a strong financial return was not the only measure of success for CSB.

“We measure our success in multi-levels. As an organisation we constantly challenge ourselves in building wealth and prosperity for our shareholders, for our staff, for our communities, for our clients and for the sector,” Cairns said.

“And wealth and prosperity is measured much more than just in profit and financial outcomes. It’s things such as collaboration, it’s resilience, it’s impact on environment, it’s societal outcomes… there’s a number of components which all make up wealth.”

CSB is a registered B Corp, and Cairns said the concept of business as a force for good was becoming more common in the business community.

“I believe that organisations can do good business and be a good business at the same time,” he said.

“Organisations are challenging themselves about their impact into things like the environment, the community, their staff… but also they are constantly challenging themselves to provide a more balanced delivery of service and outcomes in the market.

“If more organisations do that, then we’ll have a better society because of it.”

This positive financial result comes months after CSB scored in the top 10 per cent of B Corps globally, in B Lab’s annual Best for the World List released in September last year.