National Australia Bank (NAB) has reported unaudited cash earnings of A$1.65bn ($1.29bn) for first quarter of fiscal year 2018, an increase of 3% over the corresponding period a year ago.
The banking group said that its first quarter results were boosted by a 23% fall in bad and doubtful debts to A$160m.
Go deeper with GlobalData
For the quarter ended 31 December 2017, NAB’s revenue rose 1%. The bank attributed the rise in revenue to growth in business and private banking as well as in its institutional unit.
However, the group’s expenses rose by 4% during the first quarter due to investment and job cuts announced previously.
In November 2017, the bank NAB revealed that it would invest A$1.5bn on new technology and slash costs by over A$1bn by the end of the 2020 by axing nearly 6,000 jobs.
NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn said: “The acceleration of our strategy is well underway and we are pleased with the early progress.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“We are on track to deliver the targets announced with the FY17 results,” Thorburn added.
The group’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 10.2% as at 31 December 2017.
The bank in its brief trading statement noted that net interest margin declined during the period.
