May 9 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest bank Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX on Tuesday said third-quarter unaudited cash profit rose 4.3 percent as the credit quality of its lending business "remained sound".
Cash earnings climbed to A$2.4 billion ($1.77 billion) for the three months ended March 31 compared with A$2.3 billion a year ago, the bank said in a limited trading update.
Bad debts rose to A$6.7 billion, compared with A$6.3 billion last year.
CBA's update followed rivals Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX , National Australia Bank NAB.AX , and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX reporting a rise in half-year cash profit over the last week. ($1 = 1.3550 Australian dollars)