10 June 2003 12:00am

National Australia Bank may be maintaining earnings momentum in its corporate and institutional banking business, but the division faces challenges in key market segments and in Europe.

Executive general manager Ian Scholes said in an investor presentation last week that the wholesale banking business was recording a "very strong EVA result" in the year to date.

That's not much guidance from a bank that reported for the half year to March 2003 only a month ago. The bank said then that corporate and institutional banking recorded a nine per cent increase in net profit,...