NAB plays down chief’s comments

YOrkshire Bank’s parent company National Australia Bank has played down an Australian report describing the UK business as “underperforming”.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Mar 2011, 06:00 BST

A spokesman for Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks said NAB is totally focused on taking the business forward in the UK.

According to Australian website Business Spectator, NAB’s chief executive Cameron Clyne said the bank’s share price trades at a discount to its peers because of its underperforming UK business.

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Mr Clyne is reported as saying that although NAB had presented its criteria for selling its Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, or making acquisitions, nothing had happened in the UK market.

“Whilst that’s part of our portfolio, that’s going to drive a discount because its an underperforming part of our business in ROE (return on equity) terms, and its also a more troubled part of the world economically,” Mr Clyne told the Credit Suisse’s investment conference in Hong Kong, according to Business Spectator.

But his comments are thought to refer to the tough UK market rather than the UK operations.

Related topics:YorkshireClydesdaleHong Kong