(Reuters) – National Australia Bank, the country’s second-largest lender, on Wednesday posted a 8.3% rise in annual cash profit as it benefited from robust home and business lending and as margins were supported by rising interest rates.
Australia’s “big four” banks enjoyed a boom in home lending in the first half of the year, as record low rates and a pandemic-fuelled shift to remote working lifted property markets.
In contrast, recent aggressive policy tightening has helped expand margins, but left them susceptible to a downturn in their core mortgage lending businesses.
The banks have also had to contend with higher expenses amid soaring cost of living pressures, declining home prices, and wage inflation.
NAB’s stressed loans, interest payments on which is delayed for more than 90 days fell to 0.66% from last year’s 0.94%. Net interest margin, a key metric of profitability, slipped to 1.65%.
Australia’s biggest business bank reported cash earnings of A$7.10 billion ($4.62 billion) for the year to September, compared with A$6.56 billion a year earlier, and analysts’ estimate of A$7.08 billion according to Refinitiv Eikon.
The Melbourne-headquartered bank declared a final dividend of 78 Australian cents per share, compared with 67 Australian cents apiece last year.
($1 = 1.5380 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
