The Queensland headquartered bancassurance player Suncorp reported its half year results yesterday. In contrast to the net loss for the year reported by rival AMP, Suncorp delivered a net after tax profit of A$537 million for the six months to 31 December 2016, up slightly from the previous half year result of $530 million. Profit after tax from business lines increased 12.7 per cent to $613 million, up from $544 million.In contrast to the flat results or slight reversals among Suncorp's insurance businesses, the banking and wealth business delivered NPAT of $208 million, reflecting improved operating expenses and strong credit quality. In response to what Suncorp termed "some unsustainable competitor pricing," the bank said it instead "focused on profitable growth through the optimisation of price and volume," echoing the home loan strategy pronounced by Macquarie Group earlier this week.  The company said the bank's net interest margin of 1.78 per cent was impacted by the lower cash rate and aggressive competition, although it remained within the target range of 1.75 per cent to 1.85 per cent.  Lending grew 2.5 per cent over the past 12 months, and Suncorp said it expected its housing loan portfolio to grow in the second half.Operating expenses improved by 5.8 per cent, resulting in a reduction in the cost to income ratio from 53.0 per cent to 51.4 per cent.  Gross non-performing loans improved by 14.3 per cent over the past six months resulting in impairment losses of $1 million (less than one basis point), well below the target range of 10 bps to 20 bps of gross loans and advances.