Clyne eyes RBS branch sale while posing questions over Clydesdale

Published on Monday 23 November 2009 21:20

NATIONAL Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne has told business leaders in Sydney that he is keeping an eye on branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, while raising further questions over the future of its Clydesdale Bank subsidiary.

Speaking at a business lunch, Clyne said he was keeping a close watch on the forced sale of RBS's British assets due to regulator concerns over competition, confirming speculation that NAB may pick up the Scottish bank's branch network in England and Wales.

But his comments on its existing British assets – Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks – suggested they were back under review.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Clyne said NAB's approach to the troubled UK market was to expand or get out.

NAB sources last night played down his comments, as he had previously expressed his commitment to Scotland.

A spokesman said: "As far as we are concerned, Cameron Clyne has always said the UK operations are very strong and are a good business and that he wants to build them."

After previously expressing his caution towards the European markets, Clyne told a business lunch in Sydney: "We've been watching it very closely and we're very keen to see how it develops.''

However, he said details about the sale of the British assets remained unclear – such as whether they would be sold as separate businesses or as individual branches.

"If you're trying to carve off branches, it can be a very complex transaction,'' Clyne said.

Most of the RBS branches earmarked for sale are in the small to mid-sized business market, where NAB holds about 4 per cent of the British market through the Clydesdale Bank.

NAB surprised analysts last month when its British business delivered a small profit for the year to the end of September. Most had expected it to slip into a loss because of rising bad debts, particularly in commercial property. Full-year earnings for NAB's British business came in at 78 million, well down on 249m a year earlier.