February, 11 , 2010

A big call, and one Norris would quietly enjoy but publicly play down, because the reality is, as good as his result is, it's an embarrassment of riches.Commonealth grew banking income by a stunning 13 per cent, held net interest margins steady at 2.2 per cent and had an 18.5 per cent return on equity. It has $6 billion in excess capital and $2.8bn in bad debt provisions that won't be needed.

On the one hand, Norris can take credit for the fact he has genuinely transformed Australia's biggest bank to be both more efficient and customer-friendly; on the other, the recession that wasn't means impairment expenses dropped 30 per cent to $1.4bn -- but neither customers nor shareholders are getting the rewards in terms of better prices and better dividends.Commonwealth has joined Computershare, Boral, BHP, Macquarie and others this earnings season, with welcome signs of growth but cautious outlooks.

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