SYDNEY, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- One of Australia's big four banks, the National Australia Bank (NAB), said on Monday that its first quarter unaudited cash earnings have dropped by 1.6 billion Australian dollars, or 1 percent.
The bank attributed the revenue dip to expenses it took as a result of slashing 488 employees from its workforce.
Revenue for the same period was also up by 1 percent, but any gains were offset by a 5-percent increase in expenses, driven by the redundancy payments, and salary increases, that came after the layoffs.
NAB chief executive, Andrew Thorburn, said the company is taking a "disciplined approach" and reshaping their business to "become more efficient."
"Our first quarter expenses were impacted by the usual Oct. 1 salary increases as well as elevated redundancy costs." Thorburn said.
The NAB's charge for bad and doubtful debts also dropped 23 percent, to 164 million Australian dollars.
