Nat West raises guidance and brings forward timing of planned buyback announcement
NatWest raised its full-year guidance, brought forward the expected date for announcing a new share-buyback program and reported higher earnings after completing its acquisition of wealth manager Evelyn Partners. The British bank said second-quarter pretax profit rose 29% to £2.29 billion ($3.08 billion), above the company-compiled market consensus estimate of £2.04 billion. Net interest income, which measures lending income less interest paid on deposits, improved from a year earlier to £3.51 billion, in line with expectations. Total revenue rose 12% to £4.5 billion, outpacing a modest increase in costs. Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said deposits, lending and assets under management had all continued to grow over the past six months, adding that the bank was well positioned to accelerate its development. “The consistency of our performance, together with the completion of the Evelyn Partners acquisition, gives us confidence to strengthen our 2026 guidance,” he said. NatWest now expects full-year total income, excluding notable items, to be about £17.9 billion, including approximately £275 million from the Evelyn Partners transaction. Previously, it expected total income to be at the upper end of a range of £17.2 billion to £17.6 billion. Full-year operating expenses are now expected to be about £8.5 billion, up from previous guidance of approximately £8.2 billion. Return on tangible equity is expected to rise to more than 19%, from previous guidance of more than 17%. The bank’s second-quarter return on tangible equity was 21.0%. Pre-distribution capital generation, excluding Evelyn Partners, is now expected to exceed 240 basis points, compared with previous guidance of about 200 basis points. NatWest achieved approximately £250 million in cost reductions during the first six months of the year. It is continuing its efficiency program, including structural simplification and investment in technology to improve productivity, including by expanding the use of artificial intelligence. The bank declared an interim dividend of 12 pence per share, up from 9.5 pence a year earlier. It also said it would consider a new share buyback six months earlier than originally planned. NatWest now expects to announce the buyback alongside the release of its full-year 2026 results, rather than in its first-half 2027 report as previously expected. After the U.K. government sold its last remaining stake acquired during the financial-crisis bailout last year, NatWest became fully privately owned again. The bank maintained its broader 2028 financial targets.
The British bank said second-quarter pretax profit rose 29% to £2.29 billion ($3.08 billion), above the company-compiled market consensus estimate of £2.04 billion.
Net interest income, which measures lending income less interest paid on deposits, improved from a year earlier to £3.51 billion, in line with expectations. Total revenue rose 12% to £4.5 billion, outpacing a modest increase in costs.
Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said deposits, lending and assets under management had all continued to grow over the past six months, adding that the bank was well positioned to accelerate its development.
“The consistency of our performance, together with the completion of the Evelyn Partners acquisition, gives us confidence to strengthen our 2026 guidance,” he said.
NatWest now expects full-year total income, excluding notable items, to be about £17.9 billion, including approximately £275 million from the Evelyn Partners transaction. Previously, it expected total income to be at the upper end of a range of £17.2 billion to £17.6 billion.
Full-year operating expenses are now expected to be about £8.5 billion, up from previous guidance of approximately £8.2 billion. Return on tangible equity is expected to rise to more than 19%, from previous guidance of more than 17%. The bank’s second-quarter return on tangible equity was 21.0%.
Pre-distribution capital generation, excluding Evelyn Partners, is now expected to exceed 240 basis points, compared with previous guidance of about 200 basis points.
NatWest achieved approximately £250 million in cost reductions during the first six months of the year. It is continuing its efficiency program, including structural simplification and investment in technology to improve productivity, including by expanding the use of artificial intelligence.
The bank declared an interim dividend of 12 pence per share, up from 9.5 pence a year earlier. It also said it would consider a new share buyback six months earlier than originally planned. NatWest now expects to announce the buyback alongside the release of its full-year 2026 results, rather than in its first-half 2027 report as previously expected.
After the U.K. government sold its last remaining stake acquired during the financial-crisis bailout last year, NatWest became fully privately owned again. The bank maintained its broader 2028 financial targets.