News: UPDATE 1-National Australia Bank unveils new structure to focus at home

• Creates 3 main divisions for small business, corporate, retail
• Move aimed to increase focus on Australia, NZ operations
• NAB shares down 0.9 pct in weak Australian market

(Adds analyst and fund manager comment, shares)

National Australia Bank (NAB), the country's No.1 lender, on Friday said it has overhauled its business to focus on its Australian and New Zealand core markets after hiving off its troubled British operations earlier this year.

After exiting struggling UK businesses, CEO Andrew Thorburn is under pressure to reverse NAB's declining market share in Australia, where it has underperformed its three major peers on earnings growth and shareholder returns in recent years.

"To me this is another sign of the ongoing transition of NAB to an Australia and New Zealand facing business," said Simon Burge, chief investment officer at Above The Index Asset Management.

"I think this is a way of (Thorburn) trying to reposition in the market."

Three senior executives - Michaela Healey, Gavin Slater and Renee Roberts - will leave the bank as a result of the restructuring. A NAB spokeswoman said there would not be any job cuts as a result of Friday's announcement.

NAB, Australia's largest business bank, has consistently lost market share in business lending from nearly 25 percent in 2012 to 22 percent in March 2016. Market share in home loans also dropped during the period.

Australian banks are facing stiff lending competition from more nimble online rivals as well as foreign players such as Chinese and Japanese lenders that are rapidly expanding their loan books, leading to squeezing margins and falling revenues.

NAB is not alone in reshaping its business. No.4 lender Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) announced a management shake-up in January, while No.3 Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) last year split its profitable retail and business banking division in an organisation reshuffle.

The moves come at a time when Australia's highly profitable "Big Four" banks - NAB, ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) - are preparing for a new era of slowing growth and rising loan losses.

"The time was right to refresh the executive leadership team after two years during which the team had worked to address major legacy issues and re-focus the bank on the core Australian and New Zealand business," Thorburn said in a statement.

CUSTOMER FACING Among the changes announced on Friday, the bank will create three main customer facing divisions - one for small businesses, a second for large corporates and international branches and a third for retail banking and wealth.

The heads of each of these divisions will report directly to Thorburn.

"It should be good, I think it will give them the opportunity to focus more on the three big businesses," Morningstar analyst David Ellis said.

"It gives them every opportunity to move forward." NAB shares were down 0.9 percent in a weak Australian market. The stock has lost nearly 11 percent so far this year as investors dump bank shares on concerns about slowing revenue growth, falling lending margins and rising loan losses.