MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 15, 2004--Standard&Poor's Rating Services said today that National Australia Bank's (NAB; AA-/Stable/A-1+) planned divestment of its Ireland operations is neutral from a ratings perspective. "The bank's Ireland operations provided NAB with some geographic diversity, but offered relatively little by way of earnings or a regional growth platform," said credit analyst Craig Bennett, of the Financial Services Ratings group. Standard&Poor's notes NAB's comments regarding its strategic commitment to its U.K. bank businesses, which continues to afford the group a diversification benefit compared to its three Australian major bank competitors, although NAB will need to effectively contend with challenges to grow and manage these businesses. Additionally, Standard&Poor's believes that the divestments
