Commonwealth Bank of Australia Quarterly Profit Increased 4%

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported a four percent increase in its first quarterly report of unaudited cash profit for three months that ended September 30.

According to Bloomberg Business, Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced Thursday that its unaudited cash profit for September is A$2.4 billion, an increase from last year's A$2.3 billion. Meanwhile, its net income was A$2.3 billion from A$2.4 billion in 2014. This is an indicator that the earnings of Australia's largest earners are slowing down. Another issue these businesses have to face is increased regulations. These lenders have raised a total of A$20 billion to meet regulatory requirements to protect them from the housing market downturn. These lenders have also brought up mortgage rates, due to the cost of increased capital holding.

The International Business Times reported that Australia's biggest lenders, including CBA, Westpac, National Australia Bank, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, are projecting a slower growth in profit due to tighter capital regulations and economic downturn. Watermark Funds Management investment analyst Omkar Joshi said, "Bad debts were the key surprise, coming it at 13 basis points vs. consensus estimates of 18 basis points."

The Business Insider Australia writes that Commonwealth's A$2.4 billion unaudited cash profit for the September month is well within analyst's expectations. Also, it puts the lending firm on track to attain or even surpass the projection this year, which is $9.137. According to Commonwealth Bank of Australia, it had a total of $5.5 billion in impaired and troublesome loans in their September earnings report. It also said that there has been an increase in home lending, while the growth for the domestic business lending is still at mid-single digit range.

Commonwealth reported the biggest Australian bank earnings. Meanwhile Westpac Banking Corp. reported its lowest income increase for the past six years. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd also posted its weakest profit growth since 2008. The National Australia Bank Ltd. Missed its profit estimates for the quarter.