- The government’s stake in the banking giant fell by 1% to 26.95%
NatWest has taken another step towards full private ownership after the government sold another part of its stake in the lender.
The government’s stake in the bank has now fallen by one percentage point to 26.95 percent as it continues with plans to sell all its shares by 2026.
NatWest came under public scrutiny in 2008 when the government had to inject a total of £45.5 billion (about £5 per share) into the stricken lender, the then Royal Bank of Scotland, at the height of the financial crisis.
On Monday it was announced that the state’s interest in the bank had fallen by one percentage point to 26.95 percent.
After the major taxpayer bailout, it ended up with an 84 percent stake in NatWest.
Since then, the government has steadily reduced its stake in the bank.
In March 2022, the Treasury sold NatWest shares back to the company and the stake fell below the 50 percent threshold for the first time since 2008.
Last month this figure dropped to below 30 percent, meaning the government is no longer considered a controlling shareholder of the lender.
In the spring budget, Chancellor Jeremey Hunt said it plans to sell all its shares by 2026.
This includes a share offering to ordinary investors this summer, which the government hopes will lead to a share offering ‘new generation of private investors’.
So far, shares have only been sold to institutional investors.
NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite said: ‘We are pleased with the recent momentum in the reduction of HM Treasury’s stake in the bank.
‘Returning the NatWest Group to private ownership is a shared ambition and we believe this is in the best interests of both the bank and all our shareholders.’
Last month, the bank reported much lower first-quarter profits, due to spiking interest rates and pressure on mortgage lending.
The group’s pre-tax profits fell 27 percent to £1.33 billion in the first three months of 2024, although this was above analyst expectations of £1.26 billion.
Total income fell by around £400m to £3.48bn due to a fall in deposits and a shift by customers to higher yield savings accounts.