Chanticleer

NAB buyback is bullish signal on the economy – but not bank profits

That NAB’s board feels confident enough to launch a share buyback speaks to the outlook for the economy and its own balance sheet. But margin pressure is also building.

Aug 15, 2023 – 12.37pm

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Ross McEwan’s colleagues say the National Australia Bank chief executive’s superpower is his ability to reduce the eternally complicated world of banking into what he calls the basics: look after customers, look after staff and look after the balance sheet.

Through the latter prism, the $1.5 billion buyback that NAB announced on Tuesday sends a clear message about how NAB sees the economic outlook and the strength of its own profitability and position, even as the lagged effect of higher interest rates wash through the economy in the next 12 to 18 months.

James Thomson is senior Chanticleer columnist based in Melbourne. He was the Companies editor and editor of BRW Magazine.