UPDATE 1-Bank of Queensland profit up 46%; eyes acquisitions

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SYDNEY, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Australian regional lender Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AX) (BOQ) said its annual cash profit rose 46 percent, driven by robust deposit growth, and it was looking at opportunistic acquisitions in retail banking.

The bank said current market turbulence made it impractical to give any guidance on its earnings outlook, though it was: "confident of continuing to add significant shareholder value."

Cash net profit for the year ending Aug. 31 was A$155.4 million ($103.6 million) up from A$106.1 million a year ago.

Cash earnings, effectively the core profit, exclude one-off items and non-cash accounting items and form the basis for dividends payable to shareholders.

Retail deposits posted strong growth, reaching A$14.0 billion, a 55 percent increase on last year, the bank said.

In the wake of Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA.AX) takeover of BankWest, announced on Wednesday, and Westpac Banking Corp's (WBC.AX) deal to buy St. George Bank SGB.AX, BOQ would be in the next tier of potential targets for the country's big four banks.

As well as in retail banking, BOQ said it would also look at possible acquisitions in the equipment finance and debtor finance sectors. It did not name any specific targets.

Net profit fell to A$126.8 million from A$129.8 million the year before, affected by the negative impact of the credit crisis on high quality bonds held for liquidity purposes.

The bank said expenses relating to impairment on loans and advances were A$27.0 million, including A$24.3 million of specific provision impairment expenses and A$2.7 million of expenses relating to collective provisions.

Impairment expenses were up 29 percent on a year earlier. Bad debts were likely to track full-year 2008 levels, the bank said. ($1=A$1.50) (Reporting by Mette Fraende; Editing by James Thornhill)