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Business View Australia - August 2015 25
supported with help, guidance and
advice from a NAB staff member.
On the digital front, the group
continues to drive resilience and
capacity upgrades across its digital
channels to support the rapid uptake
of digital services by NAB customers.
Mobile Internet banking logins have
increased by more than one third
since 2013.
Manage International
Portfolio
In common with the wider UK retail
banking sector, Clydesdale Bank
continues to deal with historical
redress issues in relation to payment
protection insurance and interest
rate hedging products, which
negatively affected the results of
the group during the year. Excluding
these impacts, the returns in UK
Banking improved in line with the
economic growth in that region. The
NAB UK CRE portfolio is being wound
down in an orderly manner, with a
$3.2 billion reduction in 2014 that
was a function of run-off and the
sale of part of the portfolio.
Similarly, the run-down of the
Specialized Group Assets (SGA)
portfolio continued in 2014, with
total assets contracting from $17.4
billion as at September 2009 to
$3.3 billion as at September 2014.
On Oct. 15, 2014, the group sold a
minority stake (31.8 percent) in US-
based Great Western Bancorp Inc.
through an initial public offering of
shares in the U.S. The group plans
to sell 100 percent of Great Western
Bancorp Inc. over time, subject to
market conditions.
R & FINANCE