In their wrap of the first half 2014 reporting season for Australia's commercial banks, the equities research analysts at Credit Suisse have outlined what they see as the "fundamental trends" for the sector in the next year, and beyond.The team ranked ANZ's result as the strongest, on the back of several measures where ANZ outperformed their peers:  growth in cash earnings and underlying profit; housing and non-housing lending growth momentum; steady (albeit modest) improvement in the group's cost-to-income ratio; and a rising year-on-year dividend payout ratio. "We acknowledge, though, that ANZ's profitability metrics, whilst broadly improving, saw a lesser magnitude of improvement than the peer group," Credit Suisse said.The analysts' report includes the following estimates of overall performance among Australia's major banks:•    Average earning per share will show eight per cent growth in the full 2013/14 financial year, trailing away to two or three per cent growth in the following years. •    Revenue growth will run at four to six per cent, against lending balance growth of six to seven per cent, and underlying profit growth of four to five per cent. •    Return on equity is expected to "moderate" from 16.1 per cent in the 2013 financial year to 15.4 per cent in 2015/16.•    Net interest margins are estimated to decline by seven basis points in the 2013-14 year, and will show a five to six per cent decline in the following years.•    The average cost-to-income ratios will decline from 43.6 per cent in 2013 to 42.8 per cent in 2016, against estimated cost growth of seven per cent in 2014 (up from three per cent growth in 2013). •    Capitalised software balances will continue to rise, both in absolute dollar amounts and relative to capital.•    Tier one equity ratios are expected to increase from 8.56 per cent in 2013 to 9.1 per cent by the 2016 year.And while the March half was positive for Australian retail and business banking results, the improved performance "predominantly" reflected lower bad debt charges, noted Credit Suisse analysts. These are expected to remain "benign", in the range of 18 to 25 basis points over the next four years. The report noted that, for all banks, there is the potential for further loan loss provisioning emerging in their SME and consumer lending books, along with continuing regulatory risks.