National Australia Bank Holds Dividend Despite 19% 1st Half Profit Drop

By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--National Australia Bank held its interim dividend despite a 19% drop in first-half profit on higher costs, impairments, and charges related to the potential impact of the Iran conflict.

NAB on Monday reported a net profit for the six months through March of 2.75 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to US$1.98 billion.

That compared with a A$3.41 billion net profit a year ago, and an average analyst forecast of A$2.95 billion, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha.

Revenue at Australia's third-largest bank by market capitalization rose 8.7% on lending volume growth and an 11 basis-point increase in net interest margin.

However, NAB logged a previously announced software amortization charge of A$1.35 billion, while operating costs rose 4.4% to A$5.02 billion.

Credit impairments more than doubled on year to A$706 million, with NAB having already cited the potential impact of the Iran conflict on Australia's economy.

NAB, which held its dividend at A$0.85 a share, flagged the impairments last month. More than half of the credit-impairment increase relates to sectors most likely to suffer from fuel supply constraints and higher costs stemming from the conflict.

Stripping out one-off items, NAB's first-half cash profit edged 0.1% higher to A$3.59 billion.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2026 18:35 ET (22:35 GMT)