Feb 18 (Reuters) – National Australia Bank reported an 16% rise in its first-quarter cash earnings on Wednesday, driven by robust growth in its business and home lending divisions.
The country’s top business lender posted cash earnings of A$2.02 billion ($1.43 billion) for the quarter ended December 31, higher than A$1.74 billion reported a year ago.
Quarterly business lending volumes grew 7% while housing loan volumes rose 5% from last year, as National Australia Bank benefited from a supportive domestic economic environment.
NAB’s net interest margin — a closely watched measure of lending profitability — increased 2 basis points to 1.80%, it said.
Meanwhile, the bank’s measure of its spare cash or common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio slipped to 11.48% in the first quarter, from 11.6% last year.
($1 = 1.4120 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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