24 August 2012 7:02am

The March 2012 quarter may have been a dourer period for the banking industry in Australia than was previously realised.

Aggregate data published by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows industry profits were lower than in all but two quarters since the credit shock first hurt sector earnings five years ago.

The return on equity over the quarter was 11.0 per cent, compared with an average ROE in the four prior quarters of 15.0 per cent.

The return on assets over the March quarter was 0.6 per cent, compared with an average ROA over the four previous...