Early results show shifts in lending and deposits
National Australia Bank (NAB) posted unaudited cash earnings of $2.02 billion for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year, up 15% from the quarterly average of the second half of FY25, according to its first-quarter trading update released Wednesday.
Unaudited statutory net profit for the December 2025 quarter reached $2.21 billion, while underlying profit grew 12% compared with the 2H25 quarterly average, driven by gains across all of the bank’s customer-facing divisions.
NAB chief executive officer Andrew Irvine said the results reflected a strong start to the year.
“We have started FY26 strongly. Underlying profit rose 12% compared with the 2H25 quarterly average, driven by increases across each of our customer-facing divisions and a supportive Australian economic environment,” Irvine said.
Strong Q1 performance
Net operating income rose 6% to $5.6 billion for the quarter, with net interest income up 3% to $4.6 billion.
Net interest margin lifted two basis points to 1.80%.
The bank’s credit impairment charge reached $170 million in the first quarter of 2026, a figure primarily driven by $210 million in individually assessed charges. These specific hits were largely attributed to the bank’s Australian business lending sector and its unsecured retail portfolios.
Australian business lending grew 2%, including 3% growth from the Business & Private Banking division, with the bank gaining market share in both small-to-medium enterprise and total business lending.
Home lending grew at 1.1 times system, excluding Advantedge run-off, with proprietary channel drawdowns increasing from 41% in 2H25 to 46% in Q1 FY26.
NAB raised $15.8 billion in term wholesale funding over the four months to January 2026. Total gross loans and acceptances grew 1% over the quarter to $792.5 billion, while total customer deposits rose 1% to $667.5 billion.
Irvine said the bank remained focused on cost discipline and long-term growth.
“We continue to target productivity savings of more than $450 million for FY26 and for FY26 operating expense growth to be less than FY25 growth of 4.6%,” he said.
NAB’s 2026 Half Year Results are expected to be released on or around 4 May 2026.
NAB’s strategy in focus
In September 2025, NAB announced plans to cut more than 400 jobs in its technology and enterprise operations division as part of broader efforts to streamline team structures and improve efficiency. At the same time, the bank said it would create new roles overseas, drawing criticism from unions about offshoring and local job losses.
The bank also expanded specialised business banking teams and acquisition units targeting medium and larger corporate customers.
In its FY25 results announced in November 2025, NAB reported growth in key lending and deposit metrics under its refreshed strategic priorities, including business banking expansion and market share gains.
