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☆ Australia's CBA Q1 profit flat as competition in home loan market intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Himanshi Akhand | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Even though rate hikes since last year have boosted interest incomes and margins at Australian banks, rising cost of repayments has intensified competition in the home loan market, capping profit margins and hindering credit growth. Australia's biggest lender said cash net profit after tax was A$2.50 billion ($1.59 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, same as the year earlier. CBA dominates Australia's A$2 trillion mortgage industry, which benefited from a property boom through COVID-19 restrictions. That had prompted Australia's "Big Four" banks to start offering cash payments for mortgage refinancing to lure borrowers. CBA's rivals National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), Westpac (WBC.AX) and ANZ Group (ANZ.AX) all posted higher annual profit earlier this month despite inflationary headwinds.

Persons: Edgar Su, CBA's, Matt Comyn, Australia's, Himanshi, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, REUTERS, Commonwealth Bank of Australia's, Citi, CBA, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Group, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Australia's, COVID, Bengaluru

Banks now must sacrifice profit to keep customers who are struggling to make repayments on time. Cash profit for the year ended June 30 rose 6% to A$10.16 billion, slightly ahead of analyst forecasts, but CBA put aside $A1.47 billion more in provisions due to "ongoing cost of living pressures and rising interest rates". CBA stopped offering cash payments for mortgage refinancings to lure new borrowers in June, which CEO Matt Comyn said had "weighed on our market share". CBA's mortgage book grew in line with the total market in 2023. The number of borrowers struggling to repay loans, while rising, remained below pre-pandemic levels "but these figures will rise", Comyn said.

Persons: Banks, Matt Comyn, Comyn, Australia's, Byron Kaye, Sameer Manekar, Anil D'Silva, Stephen Coates, Jamie Freed Organizations: CBA, SYDNEY, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Citi, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ Group, Thomson Locations: COVID, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Australian prime minister seeks to diversify trade, investment on visit to India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government wants to diversify trade and foreign investment partners, as he prepares to lead a business delegation to India which he said shares Australia's democratic values. China is easily Australia's largest trading partner, although a diplomatic dispute has resulted in what Australia calls "trade blockages" being imposed by China on a raft of Australia's exports. Canberra has asked Beijing to remove those blockages as the two nations resume talks after a years-long diplomatic freeze. Business leaders across transport, resources, finance, higher education, architecture and energy will on Wednesday accompany Albanese to India, which is Australia's sixth largest trading partner. The delegation includes Macquarie Group Chief Executive Shemara Wikramanayake, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Matt Comyn, Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest, Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson, and executives from BHP , Rio Tinto and Graincorp .

☆ Australian PM seeks to diversify trade, investment on India visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, March 7 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government wants to diversify trade and foreign investment partners, as he prepares to lead a business delegation to India which he said shares Australia's democratic values. China is easily Australia's largest trading partner, although a diplomatic dispute has resulted in what Australia calls "trade blockages" being imposed by China on a raft of Australia's exports. Business leaders across transport, resources, finance, higher education, architecture and energy will on Wednesday accompany Albanese to India, which is Australia's sixth largest trading partner. "We can do all these things as well as remaining a trusted and reliable supplier of energy to key trading partners such as Japan and the Republic of Korea," he added. Albanese said Australia would be "deepening and diversifying our international investment and trade links".

Australia's biggest lender said loan impairment expenses increased by A$586 million ($409 million) and business credit growth slowed, reflecting strong inflationary pressures, rising interest rates and a decline in property prices. "We expect business credit growth to moderate and global economic growth to slow during 2023," said Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn. "We are conscious that many of our customers are feeling significant strain from rising interest rates, alongside the rising costs of electricity, groceries and other household items,” Comyn said in an analyst and investor briefing. Higher interest rates are yet to hit many CBA mortgage customers as many cheaply priced fixed rate loans are expected to come off by the end of the year. The bank also announced it would buy back additional shares worth A$1 billion, on top of a A$2 billion share buy-back announced last February.

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