Nov 1 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB) NAB.AX posted a 14.2 percent fall in annual cash earnings on Thursday as the country's fourth-largest lender grapples with the costs of compensating customers and a series of compliance failures.
Cash earnings came in at A$5.70 billion ($4.0 billion) for the year ended Sept. 30, compared with a record A$6.64 billion profit over the same period last year. The result was slightly below an average estimate of A$5.76 billion in a Reuters poll of 6 analysts.
The lender has been contending with a litany of damaging revelations from an inquiry into financial sector misconduct, including that it charged customers for advice they had not received.
NAB has set aside A$314 million for compliance costs and for refunding customers it overcharged. ($1 = 1.4142 Australian dollars)