SYDNEY, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has posted a flat first-quarter cash earnings of 2.4 billion Australian dollars (1.8 billion U.S. dollars) ending Sept. 30, no thanks to a low interest rate environment, a stronger Australian dollar and higher insurance claims.
Australia's multinational lender on Tuesday said its net interest margin also declined due to higher funding costs, but home lending, domestic business lending and household deposits all grew.
"Loan Impairment Expense (LIE) was 322 million Australian dollars (247 million U.S. dollars) in the quarter, equating to 18 basis points of gross loans and acceptances, compared to 19 basis points in FY16," CBA said in a statement.
"Consumer LIE was higher in the quarter, primarily driven by continued stress in areas of WA and QLD impacted by the mining downturn."
The quarter also saw CBA's troublesome and impaired assets rose from 5.5 billion Australian dollars (4.24 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous period to 6.8 billion Australian dollars (5.24 billion U.S. dollars), reflecting the impact of lower prices in the New Zealand dairy sector.
CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told Xinhua that the CBA first-quarter results were broadly in line though some elements did not please its investors.
"There are some areas of some different concern and in the wholesale funding spread and the business lines are reflecting that the environment remains competitive for wholesale banking," he said.
At 16:10 local time (AEDT), CBA shares were down 0.63 percent at 72.07 Australian dollars (55.51 U.S. dollars).
