Management of HBOS Australia exhibits plenty of confidence, with plans to rev up investment in expansion as the bank enters the fourth year of its revised, and aggressive, approach to its business in Australia."When we started in 2004 on this aggressive growth strategy there was a fair bit of scepticism about our ability to grow and maintain profitability," managing director David Willis said in a media briefing yesterday.In fact, under the revised reporting adopted by the HBOS Australia group, profits increased by 17 per cent, 18 per cent and 20 per cent in 2004, 2005 and 2006."We've managed to beat strategic targets in terms of market share and also profit targets in terms of total profit and risk adjusted profit."Assets increased by 32 per cent over the three-year period and staffing increased by 500 to 5000, Willis said.Willis said HBOS would further increase its investment in growth strategies, in particular in eastern Australia, and said this would reduce the rate of growth of profit in 2007.For the 2006 calendar year HBOSA said underlying profit, which is all the bank reports, increased by 20 per cent to $661 million.Income increased by 20 per cent over the year and operating expenses by 29 per cent over the year, though underlying expenses increased by only 13 per cent, which nevertheless remains much higher than at any other bank.