Australia’s Commonwealth Bank posts 11% jump in annual profit

Cautious outlook: People walk past a Commonwealth Bank of Australia branch in Sydney. The country’s largest lender says challenges lie ahead, despite it posting a double-digit profit in its full-year earnings to June. — Bloomberg

SYDNEY: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the country’s largest lender, posts an 11% jump in profit but warns that steeper borrowing costs and inflation are hitting consumer demand.

The Sydney-based bank warned of a challenging outlook as the twin economic pressures worsened the cost-of-living burden, when it reported full-year earnings yesterday. It posted a cash profit of A$9.6bil (US$6.7bil or RM29.9bil) for the year through June, which was slightly higher than analyst expectations.