National Australia Bank (NAB) maintains a strong capital position and is looking for options to further strengthen its capital base, the bank said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange yesterday.
The bank has a tier 1 ratio of above 7 per cent, it said.
The tier 1 ratio is a measurement for capital adequacy, and a bank is generally perceived as well-capitalised when the ratio is at least 6 per cent.
"NAB intends to further strengthen its capital position, having regard to ongoing global economic uncertainty," the statement said.
Out of the big four banks, NAB has the largest exposure to US debt, and it had to write off about $1 billion on its portfolio of collateralised debt obligations earlier this year
NAB's cash earnings over 2008 will come in at $3.9 billion, in line with analyst expectations, the bank said. This means a drop of 11 per cent on last year, when the group reported cash earnings of $4.4 billion.
Cash earnings exclude one-offs and non-cash accounting items, and form the basis for determining dividends.
NAB expects the dividend over the second half of 2008 to match the March dividend of $0.97.
NAB issued the statement yesterday because it has decided to publish full year results earlier than planned. The bank made this decision to provide certainty to the market, it said.
The full year results for 2008 will be announced on October 21, instead of October 31.
