The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price is marching higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank stock closed Friday trading for $39.19. In morning trade on Monday, shares are changing hands for $39.77 apiece, up 1.5%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.1% at this same time.
This follows the release of NAB's third-quarter trading update for the three months to 30 June (Q3 FY 2025).
Here's what's catching investor interest.
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NAB share price lifts on underlying profit growth
Investors are bidding up the NAB share price after the bank reported unaudited cash earnings for the quarter of $1.77 billion. That was flat year on year, but down 1% from the first half (H1 FY 2025) average.
Unaudited statutory net profit came in at $1.66 billion, down 3% on the first half, with NAB reporting 2% underlying profit growth compared to H1 and 4% growth relative to Q3 FY 2024.
The big four bank's Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio on a Level 2 basis was 12.14% at June 2025, up 13 basis points from the 12.01% reported March 2025.
Revenue in the third quarter increased by 3% and NAB's net interest margin (NIM) increased 8 basis points. Management said that excluding M&T and the impact of lower volumes of liquid assets, NIM rose 4 basis points relative to the first half.
Potentially holding back the NAB share price from a larger boost today, the bank reported a quarterly credit impairment charge of $254 million. This included individually assessed charges of $215 million, mainly relating to its business lending in Australia and New Zealand, along with unsecured Australian retail portfolios.
Looking to the full FY 2025 year, NAB said it expects operating expense growth of approximately 4.5%.
What did management say?
Commenting on the results helping to lift the NAB share price today, CEO Andrew Irvine said, "Execution of NAB's strategy and focus on our key priorities has supported a 2% lift in underlying profit this quarter."
Irvine noted that the three months saw NAB achieve its highest-ever June monthly business lending balance growth of $4.6 billion.
Addressing the expected 4.5% increase in full-year operating expenses, he noted, "This includes costs associated with a program to identify, rectify and remediate payroll issues currently estimated at $130 million in FY25, which is disappointing and must be fixed."
Looking ahead, Irvine concluded:
Balance sheet settings remained prudent over 3Q25 consistent with a focus on safety and sustainability…
We remain optimistic about the outlook and are well placed to manage NAB for the long term and deliver sustainable growth and returns for shareholders.
With today's intraday boost factored in, the NAB share price is up 7.8% since this time last year.
