Commonwealth Bank of Australia posts flat first-quarter profit

Nov 14 (Reuters) – Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA.AX) first-quarter cash earnings remained largely unchanged on Tuesday, and it said higher interest rates were resulting in slowing growth and consumer spending.

A string of rate hikes since last year have boosted interest incomes and margins at Australian banks as they charged more on customer loans.

But rising cost of repayments has intensified competition in the mortgage market, capping profit margins and hindering credit growth.

The country’s biggest lender said cash net profit after tax was A$2.50 billion ($1.59 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, same as the year earlier. That compares with a consensus estimate of A$2.45 billion, according to Citi.

($1 = 1.5676 Australian dollars)

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