Provided by Dow Jones By Alice Uribe SYDNEY--Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said its interim profit rose by 90%, boosted in part by strong home lending and an improved economic outlook. Australia's fourth-largest lender by market capitalization reported a net profit of 2.94 billion Australian dollars (US$2.28 billion) for the six months through March. With 92,000 new home loan accounts, ANZ said it was now the third-largest home lender in the market. Cash earnings--a measure closely tracked by analysts that strips out non-core items such as revenue hedges and treasury shares--rose 126% to A$2.98 billion, up from A$1.32 billion a year ago. When measured only using continuing operations, ANZ's cash profit was A$2.99 billion, up 112% on year.