In an ASX announcement on Wednesday, CBA said its statutory NPAT came in at $9.48 million for the full financial year, down 6 per cent from last year’s record result.

The decline in NPAT, CBA explained, was due to inflationary increases in operating costs and was partially offset by lower loan impairment charges.

“Operating expenses increased by 3% due to higher inflation, which impacted staff costs, additional technology spending to support the delivery of our strategic priorities and lower one-off items,” the big four banks said.

Capital spending rose to $2 billion, up 1% from FY 2022-2023, amid efforts to modernize the bank's technology and improve resilience, improve its services and meet changing regulatory requirements.

CBA's net interest margin (NIM) also fell to 1.99 percent, down from 2.07 percent in FY22-23.

The bank attributed the year-on-year margin decline to "the impact of competition and deposit switching", partially offset by higher earnings from playing portfolio and equity hedges, and noted that margins had stabilized in the second half of the year.

It declared a final dividend of $2.50 per share, giving a total FY23-24 dividend per share of $4.65, fully franked.

This reflects 70 percent of cash NPAT and is "at the upper end" of the bank's target payout range.

Commenting on the outlook, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said the Australian economy "remains resilient" with low unemployment, continued private and public investment and exports supporting national income.

"Higher interest rates slow the economy and gradually slow inflation," he said.

"Australia remains in a good position, but downside risks to productivity, housing affordability and continued global uncertainty remain."

However, Comyn also noted that many Australians "continue to be challenged by cost-of-living pressures and falling real household incomes".

The results highlight that consumer arrears have increased over the past year, reflecting the impact of higher interest rates and cost-of-living pressures on some borrowers.

Loan impairment charges fell by almost a quarter (28 per cent) in FY22-23 to $802 million.