National Australian Bank Ltd
(ASX:NAB) has today announced a $2.75 billion capital raising to maintain balance sheet strength and flexibility.
It will undertake a share placement to institutional investors at a minimum price of $21.20 a share to raise $2 billion, and offer a share purchase plan to raise a further $750 million.
In an update to the market the bank says cash earnings in the June quarter came to $900 million.
The company says asset quality continued to weaken across all businesses reflecting the economic cycle, with its bad loan rate rising to 177 basis points in the June quarter from 138 basis points in the March quarter.
The group charge for bad and doubtful debts was $1.06 billion in the June quarter, with a specific charge of $859 million.
NAB’s 2008 net profit remained relatively unchanged from the year before.
