Branches of foreign banks continue to produce modest profits in Australia, at least when measured on an aggregate basis.Quarterly data on bank profits compiled by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that the 35 banks operating as foreign bank branches recorded a net profit in the March 2011 quarter of A$150 million, down from $291 million in the December 2010 quarter.One way of looking at the profitability of foreign banks over time is to chart their return on assets.Today's chart shows the ROAs for foreign bank branches each quarter, annualised. It highlights that returns were low even before the financial crisis set in three years ago.