New boss hints at selling off Clydesdale

Published on Sunday 4 January 2009 20:16

CLYDESDALE Bank might be sold off following a review by the new boss of parent company National Australia Bank (NAB).

Cameron Clyne, who took over as chief executive on 1 January, has admitted there are "some question marks" over the strategy of the business and said his main priority would be to deliver shareholder return.

It is thought Clydesdale, which has proved fairly resilient in the current economic climate, is at risk, because Australian investors are believed to be unhappy at what they see as low returns from the UK arm of the business.

Clyne took over from Scot John Stewart after a stint running Clydesdale's New Zealand operations. A sale of Clydesdale would mean more disruption to the turbulent Scottish banking sector, which is already set to lose HBOS if the takeover by Lloyds TSB goes ahead, while the government recently took a large stake in Royal Bank of Scotland.

In November, Clydesdale reported a dip in pre-tax profits of just 1 million to 343m. Underlying earnings across the group, stripping out write-downs, rose 11.9 per cent to 518m. The bank added that its retail deposits were up 16.7 per cent to 18.2 billion, while lending volumes grew 28 per cent to31.4bn.

In 2005, NAB sold off its banking interests in Ireland, including the National Irish in Dublin and Belfast-based Northern Bank, but decided to hold on to Clydesdale.