The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has been a positive performer on Wednesday and is pushing higher in afternoon trade.
At the time of writing, the banking giant's shares are up 2% to $73.83.
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Why is the Commonwealth Bank share price pushing higher today?
There have been a couple of catalysts for the rise in the Commonwealth Bank share price today.
The first is the release of its first quarter update, which revealed a stronger than expected cash net profit after tax of $1.8 billion.
While this was a 16% decline on the prior corresponding period, a note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that it is run-rating ~6% ahead of what is implied by the broker's half year forecasts. This was driven largely by lower than forecast bad and doubtful debt charges.
COVID-19 temporary loan deferral update.
Also giving the Commonwealth Bank share price a boost today was the release of an update on its COVID-19 temporary loan deferrals.
According to the release, at the end of October there was a net reduction in total loan deferred facilities of 59%, representing a monthly net reduction in deferred balances of ~$21 billion.
New approved deferrals totalled $4.6 billion during the month, of which $4.5 billion were an extension of an existing deferral.
There are now approximately 52,000 loans in deferral, down 75% from the 210,000 it recorded at the end of June.
Which loans are being deferred?
There has been a net reduction in deferred home loan facilities of 51% during the month of October, representing a monthly net reduction in deferred balances of ~$18 billion.
9,300 facilities have been granted an extension of their deferral arrangement for a period of up to 4 months. Victoria continued to account for the largest proportion of monthly deferral extensions (39%).
At the end of the period there were approximately 45,600 home loans still in deferral. Of these, 27% (balances of $4.8 billion) are due to expire and exit in November.
In respect to SME loans, there was a net reduction in deferred SME loan facilities of 87% during the month of October. This represents a monthly net reduction in deferred balances of $2.5 billion.
Approximately 4,200 SME loans remained in deferral at the end October (balances of $1.5 billion), with 31% ($0.5 billion) of these due to expire and exit in November.
