Commonwealth Bank posts lower than expected $1.69B Q1 profit

Commonwealth Bank of Australia posted a net profit of US$1.69 billion for the first three months of 2012.

This is slightly lower than the US$1.79 billion forecast by analysts.

CBA Chief Executive Officer Ian Narev said that the outlook for financial markets remained uncertain and the bank had retained its conservative business settings, including tight expense control, a conservative funding profile and strong provisioning levels.

The bank said higher funding costs had a further negative impact on its margins in the March quarter.

The March quarter result came after the bank achieved a net profit of US$3.59 billion for the six months to December 31, and has put the bank on track for a full year profit of just over US$6.95 billion.

For more, click here.