SYDNEY: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the country’s second largest lender, reported yesterday a doubling of first-half net profit on strong lending to a hot housing market and a turnaround in its fund business.
The bank’s closely watched cash earnings figure, which takes into account big write-downs that depressed its results a year earlier, grew about 3% in the latest half. This met expectations, but the bank warned that earnings growth could slow in 2004 as home lending eased.