NatWest buys back another £1bn of shares: government stake has fallen by more than two-thirds since December last year

NatWest has moved a step closer to full privatization after buying back £1 billion of shares from the government.

The taxpayer-backed lender said it bought 263 million shares from the government at a price of 380.8p each, reducing its stake to around 11.4 percent from 14.81 percent at the end of October.

NatWest has bought back £2.2 billion of government shares through two buyback rounds so far this year.

Together with continued share sales by the Treasury, this has contributed to the government’s stake falling by more than two-thirds since December last year, from 38 percent.

Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest, said: “This transaction represents another important milestone on the path to full privatization.

“We believe this is a positive use of capital for the bank and for our shareholders, and we are pleased with the continued momentum in reducing the Treasury’s stake.”

NatWest received several multi-billion pound bailouts during the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis, leaving the government with an 84 percent stake in what was then known as the Royal Bank of Scotland.

But the Treasury Department has sold its stake in the lender as it wants to return the bank to private hands.

In March, the stake fell below 30 percent, meaning the government was no longer considered a controlling shareholder in the lender.

Labor abandoned previous Conservative plans for a share sale to the public after winning the July election.