Full Year 2023 National Australia Bank Ltd Earnings Presentation Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Jonathan Mott - Barrenjoey Markets Pty Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Two questions if I could. Just following on from the last question. I just want to get a feel, again, in the Business and Private Bank, Ross, you talked a lot about improve the quality of your bankers and the franchise. But when we see the margin pressure coming through, a lot of it is on the home loan side. And I'm surprised to hear your comment that it's -- that you said it's proportional. Shouldn't we be seeing a better margin performance in the Private Bank home loans than you are in the retail bank. And now 64% of all home loans flow going through brokers even though the majority of that is coming through the Private Bank. So shouldn't you be doing better in Private Bank mortgages NIM than was shown today? And then I've got a follow-up question, too.

Question: Jonathan Mott - Barrenjoey Markets Pty Limited, Research Division - Analyst : Can I ask a follow-up question on cost and the outlook. Ross, we've been watching across many banks for many years. And you've always -- I want to use the term frugal, but you've always been a very prudent cost manager. And in the last couple of years, we've seen costs -- in 2023 and in '24, the cost base is growing pretty substantially, and we understand the drivers of why. But if we're in an environment where rates are higher for longer, customers are going to be doing [it tough] and the revenue environment is going to be very, very subdued. How much flexibility do you have to really get that cost down? Can you pull back on discretionary costs? Can you really work on that $400 million of productivity? And is cost focus has to become an even bigger focus of management, just given the revenue environment looks pretty subdued. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. NOVEMBER 08, 2023 / 11:30PM, NAB.AX - Full Year 2023 National Australia Bank Ltd Earnings Presentation

Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst : I was hoping to actually follow up on Business deposits as well, and I appreciate you already answer -- you already answered a few questions, but just -- be interesting to get your thoughts around differences in performance for your franchise versus peers. And one of your peers highlighted that the mix impact in their deposit franchise in the Business Bank has slowed in the June quarter. We haven't heard from them since then. But are you seeing that -- the differences that you're observing in your deposit profitability are more driven by mix of business and you are more towards middle markets as opposed to smaller markets, or do you feel like there's still differences in the quality of deposit franchise that you have that you're still working on that Ross mentioned earlier?

Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst : And are you seeing -- I'm not sure if you have that detail, are you seeing any meaningful differences between smaller customers and medium customers within the SME bank?

Question: Victor German - Macquarie Research - Analyst : Understood. And then my second question on capital, if I may. I think Ross mentioned earlier that you obviously have a buyback in place and you're looking at potential further capital management opportunities after that. I'm just interested in your thoughts around the trade-off between buybacks and dividends. I know that your level 1 capital is now on a pro forma basis 11.8%. And your earnings are likely as the industry and it's likely to decline in 2024. Are you sort of thinking that you would prefer to stick to the payout ratio or would you keep a little bit of extra surplus capital and make sure that your dividends are maintained? How do you think about the -- balancing those 2 items?