NAB's annual cash profit falls 13.4% to $6.14 billion as its chief warns recession risk has risen

National Australia Bank has reported a sharp fall in annual profit and warned that the risk of a recession in Australia has grown. This report draws on the Sydney Morning Herald, The Nightly and NAB's results release. ## The result Cash earnings fell 13.4 per cent to $6.14 billion, The Nightly and NAB report, hit by higher credit impairment charges and a previously disclosed software accounting charge. Statutory profit was about 9 per cent lower, the Herald reports. The credit impairment charge rose to about $1.5 billion from $833 million a year earlier. The net interest margin rose 6 basis points to 1.8 per cent. The board declared a final dividend of 85 cents, keeping the full-year total at $1.70. Shares fell 5.6 per cent shortly after the open, the Herald reports. ## Recession warning Irvine said NAB expected growth to slow to about 1 per cent next year. "We don't think a recession is the most likely scenario, but it's probably increased in terms of its probability of an occurrence," he said, according to The Nightly. The full effect of the Reserve Bank's five rate rises this year had yet to reach customers, he said. Home loans 30 or more days overdue rose 11 basis points to 1.69 per cent between March and September, the Herald reports, and The Nightly says the share of NAB's Australian mortgage book in negative equity rose more than sixfold in a year to 0.49 per cent. Irvine said overall mortgage stress was still low by historical standards, with borrowers relying on business income under the most strain. Western Australia was faring better than New South Wales and Victoria, he said. NAB is cutting up to 2,500 roles by September 2027, the bank says. "NAB's canary is deeper into the proverbial coalmine, and it may have stopped singing," Jarden analyst Matthew Wilson told the Herald.