14 September 2012 6:48am

Investec said its Australian business "returned to profitability" in the half year that ends on September 30.

An exercise in the prior half of taking large provisions against problem property loans has not needed to be repeated. Impairments in Australia will be "significantly lower" than they were the previous year, the bank said yesterday.

The bank reported a loss of A$71.6 million in the year to March 2012.

Investec said its costs in Australia would rise over the full year, thanks to the takeover of Alliance Equipment Finance, a provider of vendor finance.