Australian banking group Westpac has posted net profit of AUD7.99bn ($6.1bn) for the year ended September 2017, a 7% increase compared to AUD7.44bn ($5.7bn) in the previous year.

Annual cash profit stood at AUD8.06bn, up 3% from AUD7.82bn a year ago.

On a reported basis, net interest income rose 2% to AUD15.51bn while non-interest income increased 8% year-on-year to AUD6.28bn.

Operating expenses increased 2% year-on-year to AUD9.43bn and impairment charges slumped 24% to AUD853m.

The bank’s common equity Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 10.56% as against 9.48% a year ago.

The group’s consumer banking unit posted cash earnings of AUD3.1bn for the year ended September 2017, a 4% rise from AUD2.98bn in the previous year.

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Compared to the previous year, the unit’s net interest income increased 5% to AUD7.51bn, while non-interest income dropped 6% to AUD802m. Operating expenses at the unit rose 2% year-on-year to AUD3.33bn.

Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer said: “This is another solid result. We have continued to successfully navigate a challenging environment while our strategy builds momentum. Our primary goal in 2017 was to carefully balance growth and returns, while meeting all of our new macro-prudential regulatory requirements. We achieved the required macro-prudential targets for home lending. The credit quality of our loan portfolio is in great shape with stressed assets reducing during the year.”