Feb 8 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank Ltd NAB.AX , the country's No. 4 lender by market value, on Thursday reported a 3 percent rise in first-quarter unaudited cash profit after bad and doubtful debt charges declined.
NAB posted unaudited cash earnings of A$1.65 billion ($1.29 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, in line with a Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) estimate of about A$1.7 billion.
Bad and doubtful debt charges fell 23 percent to A$160 million for the period, the bank said in a statement.
($1 = 1.2788 Australian dollars)