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
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
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.
“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.
