MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 2, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its counterparty credit ratings on National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB; AA-/Stable/A-1+), and related entities, are currently not affected by the company's dampened outlook for profitability in fiscal 2004 and 2005. The outlook on NAB remains stable. "The lower earnings recently forecast by the bank are within the rating tolerances set at the time of Standard&Poor's downgrade on March 12, 2004, and was an expected franchise consequence of recent risk management problems experienced by the bank," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Craig Bennett, Financial Services Ratings. "The bank's profitability forecast trend compares less favorably with domestic peers', but, by international standards, remains supportive of
