Live: CBA reports $10.9b profit, home loan applications down 15pc since May

The nation's second-largest company Commonwealth Bank has reported its annual net profit rose to $10.9 billion.The Australian share market is expected to start its day lower on fading optimism about a US-Iran peace deal happening any time soon. See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:39amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:39amMarket snapshotASX futures: -0.4% to 9,153 pointsASX 200 (Tuesday close): +0.2% to 9,251 pointsAustralian dollar: +0.1% to 70.6 US centsWall Street: S&P 500 (-0.3)%, Dow Jones (-0.3%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.6%)Europe: DAX (+0.3), FTSE (-0.2%), Stoxx 600 (flat)Spot gold: -0.5% to $US4,368/ounceOil (Brent crude futures):+1.7% to $US89.17/barrelIron ore: +0.2% to $US95.55/tonneBitcoin: -0.6% to $US63,700Prices current at around 7:20am AESTWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:55amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:55amANZ likely to report steep fall in mortgage lending as wellANZ is the next major bank to provide a trading update, and you can expect to hear from them tomorrow morning.It's fair to assume ANZ will reveal a sharp fall in loan applications as a result of the property downturn, given its other 'big four' rivals have reported the same.A couple of weeks ago, NAB revealed that demand for new loans has plunged by 15% in just three months.And earlier this week, Westpac reported a 20% drop in mortgage applications.In comparison, the 15% decline reported by Commonwealth Bank this morning was not as bad.Westpac is also predicting investor demand for loans would halve to 4.5% next year, compared with 9.1% this year .There is no doubt that the government's changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax laws is behind this investor pessimism.My colleague Ian Verrender pointed out in his column yesterday that:"While investor loan applications plummeted 26% in the quarter, owner-occupier applications — which were not affected by the budget changes — fell 18%."If that 18 per cent drop was replicated over both sets of loans, the budget changes clearly have hurt, but by far less than the rate hikes."The rate increases have had the greatest impact on the two biggest markets of Sydney and Melbourne."For more, you can read Ian's piece here. It's well worth your time!Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:43amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:43amMichele Bullock uses the RBA governor's most powerful weapon — her jawboneIf you listened to most of the RBA governor's press conference and read most of the media coverage and analyst notes, you'd be convinced the RBA is going to hike interest rates again.Financial markets certainly were certainly persuaded — the futures market is this morning pricing in about a 56% chance the RBA will lift rates at least once more.And that's exactly as the central bank would want it.The RBA board does not want Australian households and businesses to believe that rate hikes are done, otherwise they might go out and borrow money to spend and invest.The bank would be quite happy that home loan applications are falling and that there'll be less extra cash sloshing around the Australian economy over coming months.But, when you look at some of the comments Michele Bullock made in the press conference and compare it to the bank's Statement on Monetary Policy forecasts, it's clear the RBA's "base case" is that it's done hiking rates.The bank is forecasting inflation will fall to the mid-point of its 2-3% target by the end of 2027, which Bullock described in the press conference as "a reasonable time to get inflation back down to target".As Bullock and her chief economist Sarah Hunter were at pains to point out to the gathered media, almost all of the risks are to the upside for inflation and rates, so there is still a real possibility of another rate hike.But the point of "base case" or "central" forecasts is that they are your best guess of what's most likely to happen.In other words, it is most likely, in the RBA's view, that it has finished hiking interest rates.If you want to read more, I explain it in this analysis that I wrote up late yesterday.Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:32amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:32amThe federal budget and RBA rate hikes are behind CBA's steep fall in loan applicationsI'd like to add to my last post about Commonwealth Bank's loan applications falling by 15% since May 12.CBA is drawing attention to that date because that's when the federal government announced its budget, containing sweeping changes to Australia's property taxation rules.What were those changes again?Just to recap those changes, the government is only allowing property investors to negatively gear newly-built properties.But investors who owned existing properties before the budget will still be able to deduct their net rental losses against their wages and other personal income.On top of that, the government abolished the 50% capital gains tax discount.This has been replaced with a 30% minimum tax rate on net capital gains, which means a lot of people selling their homes will be paying more tax under the new regime.RBA rate hike also a contributing factorA lot of people like to complain about the budget, especially investors who stand to lose the most.However, there is another reason for the sharp fall in loan applications that CBA is experiencing — along with its rivals NAB and Westpac.It's because the Reserve Bank, which lifted interest rates by 0.75 percentage points in February, May and March this year.Yesterday, when RBA governor Michele Bullock delivered her press conference, following the central bank's decision to keep rates on hold, she was asked why Australia is experiencing a property downturn.As expected, Ms Bullock refused to be drawn on whether the RBA's rate hikes or government's budget was the larger cause of property owners' current predicament.She essentially said both were contributing factors, and did not go into much further detail.Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:12amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:12amLoan applications at Commonwealth Bank have dropped 15pc since MayIf Commonwealth Bank's share price were to fall sharply today, this chart would be probably the reason for it!It's buried deep within the bank's Results Presentation and Investor Discussion Pack.And it shows the number of loan applications for CBA have dropped 15% since May.It's also down by a steep 17% since the same period last year. Loan applications at CBA have fallen sharply. (CBA)Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:04amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 8:04am'Slowing' growth and higher costs weigh on CBA's resultsWhen we dig deeper into Commonwealth Bank's $10.9 billion annual profit, there are some weaknesses to be found.For starters, its net interest margin (NIM) is a little lower — down 0.03 percentage points to 2.05% since the previous financial year.Simply put, the NIM is the difference between the interest that the bank earns from lending money and the interest it pays on deposits.So a slightly lower NIM shows signs of increased competition in the mortgage business.Its operating expenses have also risen 6% to $13.76 million.CBA says it was driven by "inflation, investment in technology, fraud scams and financial crime, partly offset by productivity initiatives and favourable foreign exchange".The bank's CEO Matt Comyn provided an outlook statement, saying "growth is slowing, with higher interest rates and inflation placing uneven pressure on household incomes and economic activity"."Housing activity has softened from a high base," he added."Application volumes appear to have stabilised in recent weeks. Businesses continue to manage higher input costs and supply uncertainty."Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:44amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:44amASX to open lower on fading hopes of US-Iran resolution happening soonGood morning, and welcome to the ABC's finance blog! I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.The local share market is on track to start its day lower. ASX futures, which are a rough indicator of how the market may open, have fallen by about 0.4%.The Australian dollar is slightly higher at 70.6 US cents.It comes after a weak session on Wall Street, which saw steep losses for America's tech giants like Amazon (-2.1%), Alphabet (-3.8%) and SpaceX (-3.9%).There also appears to be more pessimism amongst investors about the likelihood of the Strait of Hormuz reopening soon, and ongoing doubts about whether the US and Iran can reach a broader resolution to their almost six-month war.One indicator of this pessimism is the higher oil price. Brent crude futures have jumped 1.2% to $US88.81 per barrel, its highest level in a week.The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the US does not change its behaviour and accept Iran's conditions to end the war, the newly appointed secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said.On Wall Street, the S&P 500 declined 0.3% to 7,728 points.The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6% to 26,445 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3% to 53,792points.Wed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:43amWed 12 Aug 2026 at 7:43amCommonwealth Bank announces $10.9 billion full-year profitThe nations' second-largest company Commonwealth Bank has released its annual results.CBA reported its statutory net profit rose 8% to $10.91 billion.Its preferred measure of earnings, cash profit, went up 7% to $10.98 billion.The bank will pay a full-year dividend of $5.05 per share, fully franked, which is 4% higher than last year's payout to investors.