CBA’s cash NPAT up
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has reported its cash net profit after tax (NPAT) of approximately $2.2 billion in 1Q22, which was 20% higher than in the same period last year, but 9% lower than 2H21, due to benefitting from the release of collective provisions.
In an announcement made to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), it said it expected the sale of a 55% interest in Colonial First State (CFS) to be completed in the second half of calendar year 2022, subject to regulatory approval.
The remediation costs in 2H21 stood at $333 million pre-tax and included $177 million of additional provisions for historical aligned advice remediation issues and associated program costs, and $156 million of banking and other wealth related customer remediation and other litigation provisions.
The operating expenses were reduced by 1% thanks to lower remediation costs, however after excluding remediation costs, expenses were 3% higher due to higher staff costs from lower annual leave usage, increased staffing levels in response to higher volumes and additional days in the quarter.
The operating performance was flat on the 2H21 quarterly average and 2% higher than 1Q21.
CBA’s chief executive, Matt Comyn, said the bank successfully completed a $6 billion off-market share buy-back.
“Strong demand meant the offer was significantly oversubscribed, representing one of the largest ever tenders into a share buy-back in Australia,” he said.
“Though the buy-back and dividends, the bank has returned over $12 billion to shareholders in the past 12 months.”
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