CBA defends $10b profit, rejects ‘tycoon tax’
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has defended the bank’s record $10.2 billion annual profit against claims of profiteering, saying it will fortify the balance sheet to support struggling borrowers.
Mr Comyn declared that “strong and stable banks benefit all Australians” and warned against measures such as the 40 per cent bank tax proposed on Tuesday by Italy’s right-wing government, as the Greens demanded on Wednesday that the Albanese government implement a super profits tax.
Matt Comyn at the Financial Review Banking Summit in March; he was paid $10.4 million in 2023. Natalie Boog
“It is important for banks to be profitable, particularly at this point in the cycle,” said Mr Comyn, who made $10.4 million in 2022-23.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said it was obscene that CBA earned its highest-ever profit while its borrowers battled to meet loan repayments, insisting that the government consider the Greens’ “tycoon tax”.
“Nothing better demonstrates the radical nature of Australia’s housing market right now that you can have 62 per cent of renters in financial stress, while the Commonwealth Bank makes $10 billion in profits,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.
But Mr Comyn warned that Italy’s proposed bank windfall tax – which was watered down after bank shares fell 10 per cent – could drive investors and capital away.
CBA’s 6 per cent increase in cash profit on Wednesday came with a higher final dividend – fully franked at $2.40 a share and worth $4 billion – and a $1 billion share buyback, boosting the stock as the deterioration in margins from cutthroat lending competition proved more benign than the market feared.
It is crucial, given the cost of living challenges ahead, that banks have the financial
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