Results Highlights

Profitability

		Quarter to			Full Year to		Full
		Sept	June	Sept	Sept	Sept	Year Change
		1999	1999	1998	1999	1998	%
	Major Contributions (before goodwill and abnormal items)
	Australia	326	358	414	1,412	1,316	7.3
	Europe	179	175	210	761	713	6.7
	Clydesdale Bank (1)(2)	40	60	96	262	286	(8.4)
	Northern Bank (1)(2)	51	41	50	171	169	1.2
	Yorkshire Bank (1)(2)	82	81	82	343	344	(0.3)
	National Irish Bank (1)(2)	1	8	7	31	33	(6.1)
	Other Europe (including NAL) (1)(2)	20	1	(10)	16	(57)	large
	New Zealand	74	58	58	240	207	15.9
	Bank of New Zealand(1)	86	75	78	302	280	7.9
	United States	137	85	88	376	229	64.2
	Michigan National Coroporation(1)	61	68	71	254	226	12.4
	HomeSide(1)	41	37	39	153	92	66.3
	Asia	18	21	13	32	46	(30.4)
	Group operating profit	734	697	783	2,821	2,511	12.3
	Underlying profit	1,094	1,194	1,196	4,681	4,295	9.0
	Cash earnings (1)	789	748	833	3,027	2,692	12.4
	Earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders(3)	704	682	776	2,747	2,504	9.7
	Net interest income	1,538	1,490	1,565	6,066	5,858	3.6
	Non interest income	1,153	1,155	1,148	4,563	3,953	15.4
	Non interest expenses	1,542	1,400	1,467	5,742	5,335	7.6
	Goodwill amortisation	55	51	50	206	181	13.8
	Charge for doubtful debts	107	143	102	540	572	(5.6)
	Abnormal items - (pre tax)	-	-	(508)	-	(749)	-

(1) Earnings excluding goodwill amortisation and abnormal items.
(2) The 1999 result for each of the European Banks includes the impact of a realignment to the statistically determined general provision, adopted in 1998, between Other Europe and the individual Banks. The realignment has impacted the European Banks' September quarter and full year results by the following amounts: Clydesdale Bank [down $55m], Northern Bank [up $8m], Yorkshire Bank [down $6m], National Irish Bank [down $2m] and Other Europe [up $51m]. The net impact was a $4m charge to Europe's profit after tax.
(3) Earnings after deducting distributions on equity instuments (refer page 24).

Balance Sheet

		As at				Full Year
		Sept	June	March	Sept	Change
		1999	1999	1999	1998	%
	Shareholder's Equity	18,520	18,183	16,053	15,764	17.5
	Total assets	254,081	250,630	254,975	251,714	0.9
	Risk weighted assets	197,096	193,689	197,333	199,476	(1.2)
	Gross loans and advances	169,720	166,257	166,364	164,062	3.4
	Total net loans, advances and acceptances	188,471	184,912	187,159	182,354	3.4
	Total deposits	162,468	157,938	164,702	158,084	2.8
	Non-accrual loans, net of specific provisions	1,113	1,042	1,022	1,067	4.3

Dividends

		September	September
		1999	1998
	Final dividend declared: partly franked 79% (1998: fully franked)	58c	53c
	Annual dividend declared: partly franked 89% (1998: fully franked)	112c	102c
	Annual dividend payout ratio - before abnormal items	60.2%	58.4%
	Dividend coverage ratio no. of times - before abnormal items	1.70	1.71

All figures are in A$ millions unless otherwise stated.

A full copy of the Group Results and Dividend Announcement for the year ended 30 September 1999 is available at the following Internet address : www.national.com.au

Performance Measurements

		Quarter to			Full Year to
		Sept	June	Sept	Sept	Sept
		1999	1999	1998	1999	1998
	Earnings (1)
	Basic earnings per share - before abnormal items	47.5c	46.3c	53.8c	186.6c	174.6c
	- after abnormal items	47.5c	46.3c	30.3c	186.6c	140.0c
	Diluted earnings per share - before abnormal items	46.2c	45.1c	52.0c	181.6c	170.6c
	- after abnormal items	46.2c	45.1c	30.0c	181.6c	137.9c
	Return before abnormal items on average assets	1.1%	1.1%	1.3%	1.1%	1.1%
	Return before abnormal items on average shareholders' funds	17.8%	17.6%	20.5%	17.3%	17.8%
	Cash Earnings (2)
	Basic earnings per share - pre abnormal items	51.2c	49.7c	57.2c	200.6c	187.3c
	Return before abnormal items on average tangible assets	1.2%	1.2%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%
	Return before abnormal items on average tangible shareholders' funds	23.6%	23.6%	27.6%	22.8%	22.9%
	Productivity Measures
	Underlying profit per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$)	$95,805	$105,138	$103,326	$102,483	$92,765
	Operating profit (before abnormals) per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$)	$64,279	$61,375	$67,646	$61,761	$54,233
	Non interest income per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$)	$100,972	$101,704	$99,179	$99,899	$85,378
	Operating costs per full time equivalent employee (to nearest A$)	$135,038	$123,277	$126,739	$125,712	$115,227
	Net Interest Income
	Group net interest spread	2.45%	2.48%	2.70%	2.47%	2.63%
	Group net interest margin	3.00%	2.97%	3.12%	3.00%	3.17%
	Non Interest Income
	Non interest income to total net income	42.8%	43.7%	42.3%	42.9%	40.3%
	Non Interest Expenses (excl. goodwill and abnormal items)
	Cost/income ratio	57.3%	52.9%	54.1%	54.0%	54.4%
	Operating costs to total assets	2.4%	2.2%	2.3%	2.3%	2.1%
	Bad and Doubtful Debts
	Total provision charge to operating profit	14.6%	20.5%	22.9%	19.1%	28.4%
	Specific provision balance to total assets		0.2%		0.2%	0.2%
	Specific provision balance to risk weighted assets		0.2%		0.2%	0.2%
	Capital
	Tier 1 ratio		7.6%		7.8%	6.4%
	Tier 2 ratio		3.0%		2.9%	3.1%
	Deductions		(0.3%)		(0.3%)	(0.3%)
	Total capital ratio		10.3%		10.4%	9.2%
	Asset Quality
	Gross non-accrual loans to gross loans and acceptances		0.8%		0.8%	0.8%
	Net non-accrual loans to risk weighted assets		0.5%		0.6%	0.5%
	Shares
	Net tangible asset backing per ordinary share		$8.49		$8.67	$8.24
	Weighted average shares on issue ('000)				1,472,144	1,433,616

(1) Based on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders.
(2) Cash basis calculations are based on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders and exclude goodwill and related amortisation expense.