The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has recorded a record cash profit for an Australian bank in the 2013/14 financial year – increasing its net cash profit by 12% to $8.68 billion.
The bank’s lending portfolio – with mortgages making up 54% of its asset class – played a significant role in the bank setting records.
Home loan balances increased $27 billion to $400 billion, reflecting a 7% increase on the prior year. While business and corporate loans increased $12 billion to $184 billion, which also reflects a 7% increase on the prior year.
Chief executive of
CBA,
Ian Narev said, “Lower interest rates have been positive for the housing and construction sectors, where increased activity has gone some way to offset the impacts of the anticipated reduction in investment in the resources sector.”
The quality of the bank’s home loans also improved this year, with home loan arrears reducing over the year. The percentage of home loans that are more than 30 days overdue decreased from 1.44% to 1.25%, and those more than 90 days overdue reduced from 0.62% to 0.50%.
Looking to the future, Narev said the bank is “cautiously positive” about the outlook for the coming year.
