NAB profit shredded, dividend slashed, as COVID-19 forces $3b capital raising

National Australia Bank has revealed a 51 percent fall in half year profit to $1.3 billion, attributing the plunge directly to fallout from COVID19. 

In the first move by any of the Big Four banks, the NAB will also slash its dividend to shareholders and is seeking to raise $3 billion to strengthen the bank's balance sheet as it confronts the deepest downturn since the Great Depression. 

ABC's Peter Ryan says NAB is predicting the jobless rate will peak at 11.7 percent.