NatWest buys back £1bn in shares from the government

NatWest has repurchased £1bn of shares from the HM Treasury, taking the government's stake in the banking group to just over 11%.

The company said on Monday that it made an off-market purchase of 262.6m shares on Friday at a price of 380.8p following a 73% jump in the stock over the year to date.

This was the bank's second buyback of government shares in 2024 and reduced the bank's stake from 14.2% to 11.4%. The HM Treasury had established a 84% shareholding in the bank following its bailout in 2008.

"This transaction represents another important milestone on the path to full privatisation," said chief executive Paul Thwaite.

"We believe it is a positive use of capital for the bank and for our shareholders and we are pleased with the sustained momentum in reducing HM Treasury's stake in NatWest Group throughout this year."

NatWest said it continues to target a common-equity tier-1 capital ratio of 13-14% this year.