The Australian owner of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks says it may float them on the stock market as it prepares to exit UK banking.
National Australia Bank (NAB) said it was considering a number of options for the banks, which collectively employ more than 7,000 staff and have proved costly since the financial crisis, given their exposure to toxic property loans.
NAB, which has owned Glasgow-based Clydesdale since 1987 and Yorkshire since 1990, said the pair were now well placed for "sustainable growth" after an efficiency drive and greater emphasis on product competitiveness.
Chief executive Andrew Thorburn said: "Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks are strong brands with good market shares in the communities in which we operate.
"We've made good progress in the past year in sharpening the competitiveness of our products, introducing customer service enhancements and improving the efficiency of our operations.
"In addition, we have undertaken extensive programmes to address legacy conduct issues and ensure fairness for our customers is at the heart of everything we do."
He argued the UK exit plan was an "absolute priority" for the group after it reported a 1.1% drop in full-year profits to £2.9bn.
NAB reported £823m in one-off charges which included costs to cover mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) and interest rate hedging products sold to small businesses.
The company also said it was facing higher-than-expected levels of new complaints and warned that Clydesdale was still subject to an enforcement action by the City regulator in relation to its previous PPI complaints-handling process.
Collective underlying annual profits for the banks, which exclude such costs, rose 6.8% to £283m.
The prospect of the brands being sold on the stock market in the short term seem remote given current volatility and concerns about global economic growth and strength of the banking sector.
Virgin Money and Aldermore, who were both planning flotations, recently confirmed they were delaying their listings until conditions improved.
