Shareholders to benefit in Commonwealth Bank windfall The Commonwealth Bank is tipped to boost its payout on predictions it will rake in a record full-year profit of $7.61 billion. AUSTRALIA'S financial reporting season will shift into high gear this week, with the nation's biggest bank tipped to up its payment to shareholders on the back of a year of bumper profits. Analysts say the Commonwealth Bank, one of the most popular shares in the country, will boost its payout on predictions it will rake in a record full-year profit of $7.61 billion. The prediction comes as a slew of other major ASX200 companies are set to report final results. These include home entertainment retailer JB Hi-Fi and controversial miner Newcrest today and the blood maker CSL, the market darling, on Wednesday. "We expect CBA to unveil a solid second half result," Deutsche Bank analyst James Freeman said of the dominant player. Mr Freeman says capital management will be the focus with a "strong" second half dividend of $2, compared to the $1.97 paid out for the same six months last year. This would deliver a full year dividend of $3.64 after the bank also raised its first half dividend to $1.64, a 20 per cent rise on the year before. " (The result is) driven by the full period benefit of mortgage book repricing, stable deposit margin, strong cost control and stable credit quality trends," Mr Freeman said. He also says an additional special dividend to shareholders is not out of the question, "however it is not our base case." Other analysts, such as Goldman Sachs' Andrew Lyons have previously said the dividend could go as high as $2.12 in the second half. Analysts are predicting a busy five days, with AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver pointing out 40 major companies are reporting over the week. And he said all would not be as sunny as the Commonwealth Bank results with consensus estimates for 2012-13 earnings growth slipping to minus 0.5 per cent. "Resources profits may show signs of bottoming with a fall of 18 per cent, but domestically exposed cyclicals are vulnerable to further weakness," Dr Oliver said. On the positive side though, ongoing cost control and the fall in the Australian dollar are likely to be supports for the profit outlook going forward. He said the fall in the Aussie dollar, which was trading at 92 US cents yesterday, could potentially boost profits by around 4.5 per cent. Until May, many Australian exporters had been struggling under a dollar that had set a record 11 months above parity with the US currency.