The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has edged lower this morning along with the rest of the big four banks despite the release of its letter to shareholders.
At the time of writing the banking giant's shares are down 0.3% to $70.63.
What was in the letter?
As well as including a breakdown on how the bank performed in the first half, the letter to shareholders contained messages from both its chairman and chief executive officer.
Here's a summary of what shareholders were told:
Chairman Catherine Livingstone AO was pleased with the bank's performance in the first half considering the difficult trading condition. She pointed out that CBA's balance sheet was strengthened, with its key capital measure now above the 'unquestionably strong' level set by APRA.
Livingstone also noted that it was a very disappointing period for the bank due to the Royal Commission, which demonstrated "the impact of the Bank's past failings on our customers and on the community's trust in us."
She reiterated that CBA is committed to implementing the Royal Commission's recommendations and is "acutely aware that in order to rebuild confidence in the Bank, we must ensure these failures of people, policies and processes never occur again."
Over the coming months the bank intends to accelerate the work being done to respond to the inquiry's final report and to deliver on its remedial action plan.
The bank's CEO, Matt Comyn, added to this by emphasising that the bank will be putting its customers first from now on.
After working through 14,000 responses to its customer feedback request, it notes that the overwhelming message was that "customers want service over sales." This resulted in the bank removing financial incentives for tellers and changing its focus to selling its customers the products that are right for their needs.
Mr Comyn acknowledged that there's a long road ahead but has confidence that the bank will transform successfully.
He said: "There is much work ahead to transform the Commonwealth Bank, but we have a clear strategy, a strong franchise and dedicated people. You have my commitment, and that of my leadership team, to make sure it happens."
Should you invest?
I think the shares of all the big four banks are trading at attractive levels right now and ought to be considered buys.
However, for valuation and yield reasons I would choose the shares of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) at this stage.
