Rate rises help drive NAB cash earnings

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

16 February 2023

National Australia Bank (NAB) has acknowledged Australia’s current rising interest rate environment as being a key contributor to its first quarter cash earning rising 18%.

In a quarterly update delivered to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today, NAB said the higher interest rate environment, resulting from central bank actions to curb inflation, “has benefitted our revenue in this period”.

However, the bank also acknowledged that the same rate rise environment was adversely impacting customers via cost of living pressures.

“Overall, though, continued strong employment conditions and health savings buffers mean most customers look well place to manage through this period,” it said.

The quarterly update saw NAB reporting an unaudited statutory net profit of $2.05 billion on the back of 18.7% cash earnings growth.