National Australia Bank Ltd. Ratings Affirmed Following Half-Year Results And Plans To Exit U.K. Banking Business

MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) May 8, 2015--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has affirmed its 'AA-/A-1+' ratings on National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB). Our ratings on Bank of New Zealand and MLC Ltd. also remain unchanged, and equalized with those on NAB, reflecting our expectation of timely support from the parent, if needed. The outlook on all ratings remains stable. The affirmations followed NAB's announcement on May 7, 2015 of its good operating results from its core banking and wealth management businesses in Australia and New Zealand, with a 5.4% increase in cash profit compared with the previous six-month period. NAB has also announced that it plans to exit its U.K. banking business via a demerger and

...MELBOURNE (Standard & Poor's) May 8, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has affirmed its '##-/A-1+' ratings on National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB). Our ratings on Bank of New Zealand and MLC Ltd. also remain unchanged, and equalized with those on NAB, reflecting our expectation of timely support from the parent, if needed. The outlook on all ratings remains stable. The affirmations followed NAB's announcement on May 7, 2015 of its good operating results from its core banking and wealth management businesses in Australia and New Zealand, with a 5.4% increase in cash profit compared with the previous six-month period. NAB has also announced that it plans to exit its U.K. banking business via a demerger and an IPO with an intention to complete the process by the end of calendar 2015. The accounting loss on the demerger is expected to be broadly commensurate with the reduction in regulatory risk weighted assets. "We consider NAB's announcements to have no impact on the...

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