NatWest has bought £1 billion of its personal shares from the UK Treasury, reducing the federal government’s stake within the FTSE 100 lender to only over 11%.
This buyback, the second of its form in 2024, noticed NatWest purchase 263 million shares at a worth of 380.8p every, a step CEO Paul Thwaite describes as an “important milestone on the path to full privatisation.”
The federal government’s stake in NatWest, previously Royal Financial institution of Scotland, was as excessive as 84% after the 2008 monetary disaster bailout. Over latest years, the state has progressively lowered its possession by share gross sales to institutional traders and buybacks. In 2024 alone, NatWest has repurchased £2.2 billion of shares from the Treasury, slicing the federal government’s holding by over two-thirds since December.
The Labour authorities cancelled plans for a public share sale of NatWest in June, which was anticipated to dump a part of the federal government’s 20% stake however was scrapped attributable to issues it may price taxpayers as much as £450 million. The “Tell Sid”-style public providing was initially proposed by the earlier Conservative authorities.
The Treasury’s newest sale continues the development of privatising the financial institution, which has been a key goal for the reason that taxpayer-funded bailout over a decade in the past.
