The Commonwealth Bank has attributed a durable full year financial result, in part to, substantially divesting its wealth management businesses.
The bank today announced a 12.4% increase in statutory net profit after tax to $9,643 million which it said included gains realised on the sale of businesses, while cash net profit after tax was down 11.3% to $7,296 million.
Commenting on the result, CBA chief executive, Matt Comyn said the strength of the core businesses combined with strong operational performance had delivered good outcomes for customers and shareholders despite the challenges presented by lower interest rates and COVID-19.
“We have substantially divested our wealth management businesses in line with our simpler, better bank strategy,” he said. “This has allowed us to focus on delivering performance in our banking businesses.”
Looking to the future, Comyn pointed to the challenges tied up in the COVID-19 pandemic but said that the bank was prepared for a range of economic scenarios and had provisioned accordingly.
“We anticipate that lower credit growth and low interest rates will continue to put pressure on our revenue, requiring a focus on performance, efficiency and capital allocation,” he said.
