The Commonwealth Bank met investor expectations with a lower profit than a year ago, a lower dividend but it was also higher than the final for 2019-20 and that’s what the market had been wanting.
In an early morning filing with the ASX, the CBA reported cash earnings (the favoured measure for banks) for the half of $3.886 billion, down 10.8% from the December 19 half year.
Net profit dipped a larger 21% to $4.877 billion.
Revenue eased 1% to $11.896 billion.
Interim dividend was set at $1.50 a share – up 53% from the payout for the June half but down 25% on the interim for 2019-20.
The net interest margin eased to 2.01% “mainly due higher liquid balances (unused cash) and the impact of the lower rate environment (after the Reserve Bank’s two big rate cuts in 2020).
The bank tucked away an extra $882 million to cover possible impaired loans. That was up $223 million on the provision for the first half of 2019-20.
