News: UPDATE 1-National Australia Bank posts record FY cash profit, to slash jobs

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Nov 2 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB) (NAB) posted a 2.5 percent rise in annual cash profit on Thursday, helped by surging home loan volumes and higher business lending margins, but said it would shed about 6,000 jobs.

Cash profit rose to A$6.64 billion ($5.09 billion) for the year ended Sept. 30, from A$6.48 billion a year earlier, Australia's fourth largest lender said. It said it expected to cut about 6,000 staff from now to 2020 as it automates its business.

As a result, it said it expects to take restructuring charges of A$500 million to A$800 million in the first half of fiscal 2018, and sees a spike in expenses of between 5 percent and 8 percent over the year.

The bank said its statutory net profit rose to A$5.29 billion from A$352 million from the previous year when it took a one-off charge related to the sale of its British business.

NAB's net interest margin, a key gauge of profitability, fell 3 basis points from last year.

In May, the Australian government said it would charge a 6 basis-point levy on the mortgage books of the country's major lenders, a measure to cool the housing market and bolster the federal budget.

NAB declared a final dividend of A$0.99 per share, the same as the previous year.

($1 = 1.3033 Australian dollars)