CBA net profit slips to $9.23bn

CBA has weathered a year in which its reputation took a battering by posting a $9.233 billion net profit, down 4.8 per cent from 2016–17.

The reduced profit is almost entirely down to the $700 million civil penalty it agreed to pay on 4 June 2018 following court proceedings by AUSTRAC relating to contraventions of the AML/CTF rules.

CBA also put aside $389 million in addition provisions for the year ended 30 June 2018.

This comprised of $234 million for new risk and compliance provisions (up $199 million on the previous year) and one-off regulatory costs of $155 million.

The one-off regulatory costs relate to financial crimes compliance, an ASIC investigation, shareholder class actions, the AUSTRAC proceedings, the royal commission and the APRA Prudential inquiry.

CBA reported a return on equity of 14.1 per cent , down 160 basis points, and earnings per share (cash) of $5.29, down 6.2 per cent.

The bank declared a final dividend of $2.31 per share, bringing the full year dividend to $4.31 per share, up 2 cents on 2016–17.

Commenting on the result, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said: “Despite the challenges we have faced this year, the fundamentals of our business remained strong.”

“Operating momentum was driven by our core franchise which delivered good volume margin management in home and business lending, ongoing growth in transaction accounts and deposits, and continued uptake of our technology offering.

“We also continued to strengthen our balance sheet. This performance has supported a higher dividend for shareholders,” Mr Comyn said.