National Australia Bank Ltd's (ASX:NAB) 1H18 results revealed that net profit of $2,583 million was flat compared to 1H17. The dividend remains unchanged at $0.99 cents per share as the bank returns 96.9% of cash to shareholders.
The bank will exit its wealth management businesses including MLC to return to focusing on the core business of banking. The bank will move to simpler wealth offerings through JBWere and nabtrade. The wealth management businesses will be separated from the bank by demergers and IPOs towards the end of 2019.
The market's response to the bank's profit result for 1H18 will be benign, although the removal of the wealth businesses is likely to be seen as a positive move. National Australia Bank's share price has been the better performer over one year for the big four banks including Commonwealth bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). The bank is trading on a forward price earnings ratio of 12x and a current annual dividend yield of 6.7%.
