National Australia Bank will divest its wealth arm MLC, as its ambitious plan to restructure its workforce had a big impact on its half-year results, with cash profit down 16 per cent to $2.76 billion for the half-year due to a restructuring charge.
NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn said it intends pursue the sale of MLC – which represents 4 per cent of NAB’s earnings – via a demerger, an initial public offering, or possibly a trade sale, later next year.
He said the strategic rationale of the deal is continuing the bank’s simplification process, announced last November. He said the deal was not motivated by recent revelations in the banking royal commission.
“We need to simplify the bank. Complexity in the bank is just k…
Read the full article at: http://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/financial-services/nab-to-divest-mlc-as-cash-profit-falls-to-276b-hit-by-restructuring-charge-20180502-h0zkev