<\/p>\n
NatWest, opens new tab \u200creported a better-than-expected first-half operating profit before tax of \u00a34.3 billion ($5.8 billion) and raised its performance guidance for the year, as it grew income while keeping costs under control.<\/p>\n
NatWest said it now expects this year’s return \u200bon tangible equity, a key measure of profitability, to be greater than 19%, up \u200bfrom previous guidance of above 17%.<\/p>\n
The bank’s profit for January to June was \u2060above analysts’ forecasts for \u00a34 billion and up 20% from \u00a33.6 billion in the same period a year \u200bago.<\/p>\n
NatWest also announced an interim dividend of 12 pence per share and said it would consider \u200bshare buybacks from when it reports full-year 2026 results in February, six months earlier than previously planned.<\/p>\n
The latest results update from the bank extends a period of unusually strong profitability for Britain’s major lenders, which have in \u200brecent years benefited from higher interest rates, resilient consumer credit quality and cost savings from investment \u200bin technology.<\/p>\n
The results from the lender formerly known as RBS showed it continuing to sustain income despite recent cuts to the elevated central bank interest rates that had powered British lenders’ stellar profits.<\/p>\n
While NatWest’s net interest margin of 2.49% was slightly \u200bbelow expectations, according to \u200bJonathan Pierce, analyst at \u2060Jefferies, the bank’s half-year update showed a solid performance overall that would reassure shareholders.<\/p>\n
Those investors’ attention will now turn to the implications of Prime \u200bMinister Andy Burnham’s new administration for the banking sector.<\/p>\n
Some investors have raised \u200bconcerns that banks’ \u2060strong profitability could make them a target for higher taxation as the government looks for ways to fund spending priorities while adhering to its fiscal rules.<\/p>\n
Those concerns have, however, been partially offset by signs \u2060Burnham \u200bintends to maintain the previous administration’s broadly pro-City agenda, including a Reuters \u200breport that the government will keep implementing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out by Burnham’s \u200bpredecessor Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n
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