NAB lifts earnings to $1.6 billion
National Australia Bank (NAB) has joined both the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ in confirming the health of the Australian banking sector, reporting a seven per cent increase in unaudited cash earnings to $1.6 billion in a third quarter trading update.
The update, released on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today also pointed to a stronger performance by the bank’s wealth management division.
Commenting on the result, NAB’s new chief executive officer, Andrew Thorburn described the outcome as satisfactory but, in doing so, pointed to a number of challenges within the company’s United Kingdom businesses requiring further provisioning.
“Conduct charges are difficult to predict, but we now expect that we will need to take further provisions at the full year result for both interest rate hedging products and Payment Protection Insurance,” he said. “In addition, the Scottish Independence vote takes placed on 18 September and a vote in favour of independence may give rise to significant additional costs and risks for Clydesdale Bank.”
Looking at the Australian business, the NAB announcement pointed to NAB Wealth cash earnings increasing over the quarter benefiting from improved insurance claims results “while lapses remained stable and the impact of higher funds under management was offset by a mix change to lower margin wholesale investment business in the period”.
Recommended for you
In the latest episode of Relative Return Insider, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and AMP’s Shane Oliver break down US and Australian rate cuts, soaring gold, and bitcoin’s volatility.
In the latest episode of the Relative Return Insider, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver unpack the surprising twists in the Australian economy, diving into the latest GDP numbers, what’s really driving consumer spending, and what it all means for the Reserve Bank’s next moves.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew chats with Roy Keenan, co-head of fixed income at Yarra Capital Management, to discuss the evolving fixed income asset class, his sector preferences, and the RBA’s rate-cutting policy.
In this week’s episode of Relative Return Insider, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver joins the show to dissect the ongoing government economic reform roundtable and reflect on the wish lists of industry stakeholders – and whether there is hope for meaningful reform.
