Australia's NAB H1 profit in line, bearish outlook

SYDNEY, April 28 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) (NAB), the nation's top lender, reported a 9.4 percent fall in first-half cash profit, in line with expectations, but it forecast a tough time ahead with rising bad-debt charges.

NAB said on Tuesday cash profit fell to A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) for the six months to March, hit by higher provisioning and further worsening of market conditions. But the result showed that Australian banks were weathering the global recession better than many offshore rivals.

The result was down from A$2.237 billion one year ago.

Seven analysts had expected cash profit of A$2.080 billion on average, with forecasts ranging between A$1.909 billion and A$2.178 billion.

Cash earnings, effectively core profit, exclude one-off items and non-cash accounting items, and form the basis for dividends payable to shareholders. ($1=1.404 Australian Dollar) (Reporting by Mette Fraende; editing by Jonathan Standing and Mark bendeich)