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.

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.

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“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.