National Australia Bank halts trading of its shares after recording 51 per cent fall in earnings as COVID-19 smashes its results
- NAB’s cash earnings for fiscal 2020 have dived by 51.4 per cent over COVID-19
- Australia’s biggest business lender has been placed into an ASX trading halt
- Chief executive Ross McEwan put out Australian Securities Exchange statement
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
National Australia Bank has been placed into a trading halt after revealing COVID-19 has caused its earnings to plunge by 51 per cent.
Australia’s biggest business lender told the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday morning its first-half result for fiscal 2020 had ‘been materially impacted’ by the coronavirus pandemic.
The ASX granted NAB’s request to allow a trading halt until Wednesday, with the announcement made before the market opened.
National Australia Bank has been placed into a trading halt after revealing COVID-19 has caused its earnings to plunge by 51 per cent
NAB’s cash earnings for the first-half of fiscal 2020 were down 51.4 per cent compared with the same period in fiscal 2019.
The bank’s chief executive Ross McEwan said his bank was determined to support ‘our customers and colleagues with a range of measures to help deal with the impacts of the crisis’.
‘We are taking decisive action to manage the rapid and unprecedented upheaval caused by COVID-19 while at the same time being clear about our long-term strategy for NAB,’ he said in a statement.
This occurred after non-essential businesses, from pubs and clubs to cinemas and gyms and massage parlours were shut down on March 23 and 24 in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.