ASB Bank first-half earnings rise as bad debt charges almost halve, lending expands

Tue, 06 Feb 2018

By Paul McBeth Feb. 7 (BusinessDesk) - ASB Bank, the local unit of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, lifted first-half earnings 15 percent as impairment charges on bad debt almost halved and credit growth remained robust at a slightly wider margin. Cash earnings, the favoured measure of the Australian-owned banks stripping out financial instrument adjustments, rose to $575 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $502 million a year earlier. Impairment losses sank 47 percent to $26 million as the lender benefited from the recovery in d...

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