Government dismisses calls for CBA royal commission; Qantas on track to turn a profit; Shares up on open: Midday roundup

The Government has ruled out establishing a royal commission into the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, reports Business Spectator.

Earlier this year a Senate inquiry recommended a royal commission to investigate the actions of CBA after thousands of customers lost their life savings due to poor financial advice and risky investments.

It has been established that just over 1000 CBA customers lost savings from irresponsible or unethical advice, although as many as 40,000 clients had dealings with the CBA financial planning department during the period that is currently under review.

In a statement, finance minister Mathias Cormann said the government did not think it was necessary to initiate a royal commission.

“There have already been several comprehensive inquiries into these events and related matters,” he said. 

“The government considers that the most important focus today must be on resolving any legitimate outstanding grievances from affected Commonwealth Bank customers through the Open Advice Program and enforcement by ASIC.”

Qantas on track to turn a profit

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has told shareholders the company made a pre-tax profit in the first quarter, according to Fairfax Media.

The reason for the profit growth, according to Joyce, was that capacity in the domestic market had grounded to a halt and international competition had eased off.

“The evidence grows daily that we are on track with our plans,” he said in his opening speech at the company’s AGM.

Joyce said he expected Qantas to take a large chunk of earnings from the Australian market and that the airline was on track to announce an underlying profit at the end of the first half of the financial year.

The announcement comes after Qantas posted a record $2.8 billion loss last financial year.

Shares up on open

The Aussie share market opened slightly stronger this morning after strong gains on Wall Street last night The ASX/200 benchmark was up 0.3%, rising 16.4 points to 5399.5 at 11:52am. Last night, the Dow Jones closed up 1.32%, rising 216.58 points to 16,677.9.