Australia's major banks (the majors) are navigating the global financial crisis confidently and reported half year profit before tax of $12.47 billion.
Profitability is up 23 percent on the second half-2008 result of $10.13 billion, but is comparable to the first half of 2008 result of $12.42 billion. KPMG's Head of Banking, Andrew Dickinson, says it is very respectable when taking into account the challenges of the past 18 months.