Natwest boss says bank could return to private ownership in first half of 2025

Natwest's chief executive has indicated that the bank could return to full private ownership in the first half of 2025, marking an end to the government’s bailouts of lenders during the financial crisis.

Speaking at the Financial Times’ Global Banking Summit on Tuesday, Paul Thwaite expressed his satisfaction with the "delighted with the momentum of the share reduction", highlighting that the Treasury’s stake has decreased from around 38 per cent in December 2023 to just under 11 per cent currently, as reported by City AM.

"I think it’s reasonable to expect that, absent some big kind of dislocation in economic events, we’ll be back to private ownership next year, maybe as early as the first half of the year," Thwaite stated. He further added, "The great thing about that is we’ve started to change the investor base. We’ve now got a lot international, long-only investors who are interested in the future of the bank."

The government has been reducing its stake through an ongoing trading plan run by Morgan Stanley, while Natwest has also made two directed buybacks this year for a combined £2.24bn.

After consulting with shareholders earlier this year, Natwest won permission to buy back larger tranches of shares from the government. Despite Natwest’s share price surging 87 per cent this year to around 412p, the taxpayer has still incurred a loss from the government’s bailout, which saw it take an 84 per cent stake for an average price of 502p per share during the financial crisis.

The government has pledged to return Natwest to private ownership by 2025 or 2026. Thwaite commented that privatisation would be a "great moment" and "really symbolic for all of us at the bank."

He further added, "It means we can talk about the future of the bank, and the potential of the bank, rather than having to talk about its past," and expressed confidence by saying, "I think we’re on a very fast trajectory to private ownership."