NAB profits from ongoing earnings growth
A 20.2 per cent growth in cash earnings by MLC Wealth Management, and a corresponding 16.8 per cent growth by MLC Investments, helped NationalAustraliaBank’s (NAB’s) Australian division post an interim profit of $1.58 billion.
NAB’s Australian division, which includes its banking and MLC businesses, posted a 17 per cent growth in cash earnings, driven by 10.6 per cent revenue growth in the six months to the end of March.
NAB’s group net profit increased by 25.8 per cent to $2.7 billion in the half on revenue up 7.1 per cent to $7.6 billion, while cash earnings grew by 8 per cent to $2.2 billion.
Group chief executive John Stewart said strong earnings in each of the business units had continued in the first half of 2008, accompanied by flat expenses.
“Great business unit earnings growth, including appropriate provisioning and the best cost control in the sector, has delivered on the strategic agenda we outlined,” Stewart said.
MLC Investments continued to perform well in a difficult equity market with a strong focus on high value segment sales, he said.
NAB Financial Planning is “well positioned in the retail, business and private banks, with sales continuing to grow despite challenging market conditions”, he said.
He added NAB Financial Planning experienced adviser number growth during the period by 31 to 525, while MLC’s aligned advice businesses (Garvan, MLC Apogee and Godfrey Pembroke) added 34 new advisers.
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