(20 July 2004 – Australia) National Australia Bank has appointed Ernst & Young as the bank’s new external auditor for financial year 2005.Chairman of NAB’s Audit Committee, John Thorn, said the announcement was subject to shareholder approval at the bank’s next annual general meeting.
Thorn, who last year retired from his role as managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said Ernst & Young would provide the bank with access to considerable financial services audit experience.
The bank’s current auditor, KPMG, was sacked in the wake of the inquiry into NAB’s A$360 million foreign exchange trading losses. Deloitte was the only other serious competitor for the NAB audit role, which is worth A$20 million a year.
Last week, the bank took a hit from investors when it issued a trading update, saying cash earnings were likely to be 10 to 15 percent lower than the March 2004 half year result of A$1.85 billion.
NAB chief executive John Stewart’s honeymoon period came to an abrupt end when he said it would take 12 to 24 months to get the bank “really motoring” and that he did not expect any improvement during the first half of 2005.