Profit Growth and EPS
Cash net profit increased 6% year-on-year; statutory and cash profits for continuing operations were around $5.4 billion for the half; earnings per share increased by $0.19.
Dividend Strength and Capital Position
Board declared a fully franked interim dividend of $2.35, up $0.10 on prior corresponding period (headline payout ratio 72%, normalized 74%); common equity Tier 1 ratio remained strong at 12.3%, approximately $10 billion above minimum regulatory requirements.
Record Deposit and Lending Growth
Mortgage balances grew $45 billion (+7% year-on-year); business lending grew 12% over 12 months (1.3x system); deposit balances increased by $44 billion in the half — the strongest domestic deposit and lending balance growth in a half since 2008; customer deposit ratio at 79%.
Operating Income and Expense Management
Operating income grew 6.6% year-on-year; underlying operating expenses (excluding restructuring and notable items) increased 5.5%, with about $222 million of incremental cost savings realized in the past 6 months.
Business Bank Momentum
Business Bank pre-provision profit grew 8% and cash profit grew 14%; MFI share increased to 26.9% (up 310 basis points since the start of COVID); added 85,000 business transaction accounts (+7% year-on-year); lending balances increased by $18 billion in the year and business lending balances up 87% ($78 billion) in the past 6 years.
Retail Franchise Strength and Digital Engagement
Retail pre-provision profit growth of 5%; retail MFI share increased slightly to 33.5%; 9.4 million CommBank app users, 14 million daily log-ins, and 12 million retail transaction accounts (35% increase since the start of COVID; +585,000 in past year); 70% of proprietary home loan applications are auto-decisioned same day.
Credit Quality and Provisioning Buffer
Loan impairment expense remained low and broadly flat with the prior comparative period ($319 million for the half); total provisions of approximately $6.3 billion, which is $2.8 billion above the central economic scenario; loan losses in business lending were around 6 basis points in the half.
Strong Funding, Liquidity and Balance Sheet Metrics
Weighted average maturity of long-term funding 5.2 years; liquid assets of $199 billion; 79% deposit funding and a historically low proportion of short-term wholesale funding; record inflows of deposits enabled retirement of some long-term wholesale issuance.
Operational and Technology Achievements
Migrated core banking system to the cloud, delivered 30% more technology changes, reduced critical incidents and improved recovery times by 65%; deployed over 2,900 AI bots to disrupt scammers and send ~40,000 suspicious-activity alerts per day; invested in AI, cybersecurity and digital initiatives for small businesses.
Regional and Institutional Performance
Institutional pre-provision profit increased 13% and regained #1 NPS position; New Zealand ASB operating income grew 8% and outperformed system (1.3x system growth in home, business and rural lending).