MELBOURNE, AAP – Almost all CBA borrowers who took a loan holiday due to COVID-19 have restarted their repayments, chief executive Matt Comyn says.

At the bank’s annual general meeting, held via videolink on Wednesday, Mr Comyn said about 160,000 mortgage holders and about 90,000 business loan holders deferred their loans during the pandemic.

During the most recent outbreak, which began in June, the bank offered a three month repayment holiday for some of its small business customers, and two months for its mortgagors.

A moratorium on foreclosures has been extended until February 2022.

In her speech to the AGM, bank chair Catherine Livingstone said CBA had implemented widespread changes in its culture, three years after giving an enforceable undertaking to regulator APRA.

 

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“We recognise that sustaining the hard-fought gains of the past three years will require a permanent commitment by the bank at all levels,” she said.

But the insistence on cultural change comes just after allegations the bank knowingly underpaid its own staff more than $16 million, while telling them they would be better off under its pay deals.

As for the housing market, Mr Comyn also said the bank was keeping a close eye on strong activity in the market and adjusting its lending settings accordingly.

CBA has raised its servicing capability rate on mortgage applications to 5.25 per cent, well above the interest rate a customer would currently pay.

The country’s biggest lender reported cash profit of $8.65 billion for the year to June 30, up almost 20 per cent on the previous year, and a statutory bottom-line result of $8.84 billion.

It was also boosted by a $554 million drop in its provisions for impaired loans to reflect an improvement in economic conditions and outlook.

At the start of October, the bank concluded a $6 billion share buyback.