NAB to cut 1,400 jobs at Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks

Australia’s fourth biggest bank announced the restructuring alongside a 15.6pc fall in first-half net profits fell to A$2.05bn (£1.32bn) in the six months to March 31 reports the Telegraph.

The results follow £456m of writedowns and restructuring charges at its UK division worth, including £120m set aside to cover mis-sold payment protection insurance.

NAB said it had completed a strategic review of its British assets to adapt to weak economic conditions, with the business to be simplified to focus on retail and small business lending in Scotland and northern England.

It plans to close 29 of the banks’ 73 Financial Solution Centres, which offer services to businesses and better-off individual investors, and merge nine others with local retail branches, adding that the changes would mainly affect operations in the south of England.

It has also been announced that six back office locations would also shut.