Full Year Results 2005 - Financial Highlights and ASX Announcement: National Australia Bank Recovery On Track - 9 November 2005
Financial Highlights
Cash Earnings
Cash earnings before significant items decreased by 4.4% to $3.31 billion compared with the 2004 full year. However, cash earnings for the September 2005 half year, at $1.69 billion, were 4.6% higher than March 2005 half cash earnings.
Net Profit
Net profit before significant items increased by 11.1% for the full year to $4.37 billion, primarily due to a wealth management revaluation profit of $345 million.
Net profit after significant items, which included the profit on the sale of the Irish banks ($1.04 billion), the offsetting restructuring provision ($606 million) and TrUEPrS tax settlement cost ($97 million), increased by 30.1% to $4.13 billion.
Dividend
Final dividend has been maintained at 83 cents and will be 80% franked. Total dividend for the year is 166 cents and is also 80% franked.
Diluted cash earnings per share (Before significant items)
210.1 cents compared with 226 cents in the 2004 full year.
Cost to Income Ratio (Banking)
57.7% compared with 53.9 in the 2004 full year.
Net Interest Margin
2.20% compared with 2.35% in the 2004 full year.
Total Capital Ratio
10.45% compared with 10.58% at September 2004.
Return On Average Equity (Before significant items)
15.0% compared with 15.8% for the 2004 full year.
Return On Average Assets (Before significant items)
0.83%, unchanged compared with the 2004 full year.
ASX Announcement
National Australia Bank Recovery On Track
National Australia Bank Managing Director and Group Chief Executive, John Stewart said the September 2005 full year results showed cash earnings continued to improve in the September half.
"The full year results show the turnaround is on track but we still have much work to do."
"Cash earnings for the full year fell 4.4% to $3.31 billion compared with $3.46 billion in the 2004 full year as we stabilised the business. However, second half cash earnings rose by 4.6% compared with the March 2005 half year as we started to regain momentum," he said.
The final dividend is unchanged at 83 cents and is 80% franked, making a full year dividend of 166 cents also 80% franked.
Income Growth
Total operating income increased by 6.3% to $13.86 billion.
"We are half way through a three-year turnaround and income growth is another indication we are delivering on the promises we made to rebuild the National's businesses," Mr Stewart said.
"The National's earnings growth is acceptable for where we are in the turnaround. I am pleased we have won market share at acceptable margins while maintaining asset quality."
Lending, Margins and Asset Quality
Total lending increased by 8.6% to $292 billion.
Asset quality remained stable with the ratio of non-accrual loans to total loans improving from 0.46% at September 2004 to 0.35% at September 2005.
Group net interest margin was 2.20% compared with 2.35% in 2004.
In Australia margin decline was in line with industry trends, falling from 2.65% to 2.51%.
Margin decline in the United Kingdom, excluding the Irish banks, was more pronounced, down from 4.16% to 3.84% due to the move to more competitive lending and deposit products.
Cost growth
Operating expenses for the year rose by 7.2% from $6.81 billion to $7.30 billion.
"Cost growth reflects a combination of compliance programs, rectifying customer issues and investment in brand recognition."
"As we move through the turnaround and complete compliance projects, cost growth is expected to be limited to the level of inflation," he said.
Net Profit and Significant Items
After significant items and a revaluation profit of $345 million for the wealth management operations net profit increased by 30.1% to $4.13 billion compared with $3.18 billion previously.
Significant items after tax for the 2005 full year net profit included:
- A profit of $1.04 billion on the sale of the Northern Bank and National Irish Bank in Ireland;
- An offsetting restructuring charge of $606 million; and
- Provision for settlement of the TrUEPrS tax dispute for $97 million.
Regional Business Commentary
"Each of our regional businesses is at a different stage in its development. The management teams in each region are developing strategies and action plans to leverage our franchises in each region."
Australia
"The Australian business is well advanced in being stabilised and is rebuilding momentum.
A single business was created around customers, with lines of business assuming end-to-end accountability for products and services and with streamlined support functions.
"Market share gains have been made in the important housing and business lending sectors and a range of new products and services have been launched. Process and credit setting improvements have removed some of the impediments our bankers once faced when trying to fulfil customer needs.
"Market share gains in Australian banking were achieved in the second half while the net interest margin fell only slightly. This volume increase coupled with careful margin management has driven healthy half year banking income growth of 6.1%. Asset quality remained strong across the entire portfolio," Mr Stewart said.
Cash earnings for Australian banking in the second half, excluding a number of one-off non-lending losses, improved by 3.8% compared to the first half.
For the full year, Australian banking and wealth management cash earnings were down 1.6% to $2.28 billion reflecting the after tax costs of non-lending losses due to over charging of annual fees on some financial packages ($63 million), over-collection of Bank Account Debits tax ($10 million) and over-charging of interest on fixed rate interest-only loans ($18 million).
The impact of the non-lending losses was offset by a 29.4% increase in cash earnings from wealth management due to solid growth in the investment business, improvement in the claims experience and strong investment earnings on retained profits and capital.
"A significant achievement was the large increase in cross selling of MLC investment products by the bank financial planners which was up by more than 25% compared with 2004.
"Careful management of costs we can control directly played an important role in the wealth management result. Staffing levels fell by 10% and the cost to premium income ratio fell from 18% to 15% in 2005.
"For the whole Australian business, increased costs associated with restructuring, investment, compliance programs and rectifying customer issues will be a focus of the new management team," Mr Stewart said.
A provision of $409 million was taken during the year to cover the restructuring of the Australian banking and wealth management operations. This will produce $226 million of annual savings by 2007. Redundancies are expected to be approximately 2250 by September 2007, an increase of about 250 on previously announced redundancies.
United Kingdom
In local (UK) currency terms, the United Kingdom banking and wealth management operations announced cash earnings before tax of £297 million on a like for like basis. This was stable on the previous year.
The impact of currency movements and loss of the contribution of the Irish Banks following their sale part way through the year meant that cash earnings declined by 13.9% to $526 million, when measured on an unadjusted basis.
"The UK has stabilised profits while conducting a major restructure to make the business more competitive, managing down margins towards market levels and investing in a major expansion program for future growth," Mr Stewart said.
"To have delivered this result in a period of such enormous change is encouraging. This business is now seeing strong results from key areas of investment and we believe has generated the momentum needed to see sustained growth.
Gross loans and acceptances in local (UK) currency as at September 2005 were up 22.9% on September 2004 while third party distribution of mortgages has exceeded expectations with $2.3 billion gained in new mortgages through this sales channel alone.
"The year has seen the UK management team implement the hard decisions that were needed to be efficient and competitive and to develop an offering that gives us an advantage against our competitors," he said.
"We have continued the expansion of our integrated financial services business in the south of England, building a unique business that is already showing results, and are reconfiguring and revitalising our retail branch network across the UK.
"We have made great progress in re-engineering processes, simplifying management structures and improving the efficiency of business operations. We have released a variety of new products in personal and business banking and invested in our brands, technology and compliance.
"There is still a great deal to do to complete the turnaround and, while we won't be declaring victory until we see sustained improvements in income, we have the foundations for future growth and our business is turning the corner."
New Zealand
Cash earnings rose by 7.8% for the year to September. The improvement in cash earnings followed improvement in market share in housing, agribusiness and retail deposits.
"The New Zealand result is particularly pleasing. We have consolidated on our successes of the last three years and have delivered a quality result, driven from strong performances in a number of key areas," Mr Stewart said.
"The Bank of New Zealand is improving market share, business volumes and operating income despite a competitive market. Attention to improving customer service and products is paying off.
"The 'Unbeatable' fixed rate housing lending campaign was central to rising brand awareness and increasing market share," he said.
Initiatives to continue to improve customer service resulted in Bank of New Zealand receiving an industry award for its call centre service for two years in a row.
Institutional Markets & Services
Institutional Markets & Services' cash earnings increased by 9.9% to $613 million compared with the previous year. During 2005 considerable effort was directed at continuing the remedial action program and improving the governance framework following the foreign currency option incident in 2004.
"The Institutional Markets & Services result demonstrates that management attention has focussed on building sustainable income streams and improved return on equity," Mr Stewart said.
"During the year the IMS Asia presence has been consolidated in Hong Kong, there has been a reduction in low-yielding risk weighted assets and a focus on leveraging the National franchise to cross-sell.
"The impacts of restructuring and rebasing the business will continue to affect business performance."
Outlook
The National has moved well down the path to stabilising its businesses and earnings momentum is evident on the back of improving business volumes and market shares in selected market segments.
"However, in our core markets, the domestic economic environment is expected to be more subdued for the next 12 months and competition is expected to increase in all areas of business," Mr Stewart said.
"Global economic growth is forecast to be above 4% but this is driven by the United States, China and India with other economies recording below potential growth.
"In our core economies slower domestic demand will act to slow credit growth moderately. Therefore in Australia and New Zealand both housing and business lending is expected to slow.
"In the United Kingdom consumer spending has already significantly slowed and the labour market is softening with modest increases in unemployment. This will increase the challenge of growing our business in each region.
"In these circumstances, our focus will be on rebuilding the businesses to ensure sustainable earnings growth over the longer term," Mr Stewart said.
For further information:
Brandon Phillips
Group Manager, External Relations
03 8641 3857 work
0419 369 058 mobile
Samantha Evans
External Relations Manager
03 8641 4982 work
0404 883 509 mobile
Hany Messieh
Group Manager, Investor Relations
03 8641 2312 work
0414 446 876 mobile
Group and Regional websites:
ASX Announcements and Group information (www.nabgroup.com)
Australian operations (www.national.com.au)
Clydesdale Bank (www.cbonline.co.uk)
Yorkshire Bank (www.ybonline.co.uk)
Bank of New Zealand (www.bnz.co.nz)
Institutional Markets & Services (www.nabmarkets.com)
Disclaimer
This announcement contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "project", "estimate", "likely", "intend", "should", "could", "may", "target", "plan" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Indications of, and guidance on, future earnings and financial position and performance are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Group, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. There can be no assurance that actual outcomes will not differ materially from these statements. For further information relating to the identification of forward-looking statements and important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements, see "Presentation of Information - Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Group's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission.