NatWest boss Paul Thwaite today said the bank entered 2025 on a positive trajectory after reporting an operating profit of £6.2 billion in annual results today. While consumer and business confidence dipped in the latter part of 2024, he said NatWest had seen resilience and good levels of activity amongst its customer base. He added: “Against an uncertain external backdrop, we made good progress on our strategic priorities, grew all three of our customer businesses, and saw an acceleration in the reduction of the UK Government's shareholding.”.
A final dividend of 15.5p a share has increased the total for the year by 26% to 21.5p, meaning total distributions to shareholders of £4 billion. Meanwhile, the Treasury has revealed its stake in the banking giant has fallen by another percentage point to just under 7%. Thwaite said 2025 is likely to be the year that NatWest returns to full private ownership. He added: “The acceleration towards privatisation has attracted investment from those that share our growth ambition and will mark a new, forward-looking chapter for the bank.”.
US markets last night closed sharply higher, with the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite up by 1.5% and the S&P 500 index 1% stronger. Asia markets are led by the Hang Seng index, which has ended its strong week with a further advance of more than 2.5%. The FTSE 100 index, which last night finished 42.72 points or 0.5% lower at 8,764.72, is forecast to open broadly flat this morning. The benchmark’s overseas earning stocks have come under pressure after this week’s poor run for the dollar boosted sterling above $1.25.
