Commonwealth Bank reports flat Q3 profit at $2.6b, CEO Matt Comyn flags high ‘risk to the global economy’

Commonwealth Bank has reported a quarterly profit of $2.6 billion, up 1 per cent on the previous quarter, and 6 per cent higher than the same time last year.

The bank’s revenue rose by one per cent over the quarter to $14.1b, largely driven by lending growth and higher trading income, while expenses grew one per cent to $6.37b. The bank said it also saw a slight uptick in impaired loans.

Commbank chief executive Matt Comyn described the quarter as “another challenging period for many Australian households and businesses dealing with cost-of-living pressures”, and said the bank was proactively engaging with customers facing hardship.

He also said the global turmoil could impact the country’s economic rebound.

“There is heightened risk to the global economy from geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty which could slow the domestic economy,” Mr Comyn said.

Commonwealth Bank’s lacklustre quarter follows equally uninspiring results from Westpac, NAB, and ANZ last week, when all three reported flat or sagging earnings.

On Monday last week, Westpac revealed a one per cent fall in first-half net profit to $3.45b, excluding one-off items, with chief executive Anthony Miller describing geopolitical uncertainty as “a key risk that’s as high as it has been for a very long time”.

National Australia Bank showed a one per cent increase in cash earnings to $3.6b, with chief executive Andrew Irvine saying he was cautiously optimistic about the economy.

Like the other banks, Commonwealth Bank has been targeting business customers, and grew that segment by 1.3 times the system average. Home lending showed more moderate expansion, growing slightly slower than the market.

After a period of decline in arrears, Commbank has seen a tick back up in impairment, with both home loan arrears and corporate arrears growing over the previous quarter, although they remain near historical lows.