good to see the baks still struggling to turn a dollar.
(sarcasm)
THE Commonwealth Bank yesterday thrilled the market -- and underlined the strength of the nation's banking industry in the wake of the global financial crisis -- with news of a 44 per cent surge in first-half profit to $2.9 billion. The expected result for the half year to December 31 is about $200 million ahead of analysts' expectations and is likely to trigger a solid re-rating of the entire sector.
In a release to the Australian Securities Exchange late yesterday, the country's biggest lender said it expected a rise in unaudited cash net profit from $2.01bn to $2.9bn after strong growth across its key areas of business.
The result was more than 7 per cent above analysts' estimates, which centred on a result of $2.7bn.
Investors celebrated the news by sending CBA shares soaring $1.31, or 2.3 per cent, to a two-year high of $58.10, despite having been down almost 1 per cent earlier in the session.
