Natwest buys back £1bn in shares from Treasury as government stake drops to 11%

By Investor Empires On Nov 11, 2024

NatWest has bought £1bn of its own shares from the UK Treasury, reducing the government’s stake in the FTSE 100 lender to just over 11%.

This buyback, the second of its kind in 2024, saw NatWest acquire 263 million shares at 380.8p per share, a move chief executive Paul Thwaite describes as “an important milestone on the road to full privatisation”.

The government’s stake in NatWest, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, was as high as 84% after a financial bailout in 2008. Over recent years, the state has gradually reduced its ownership by selling shares to institutional investors and buying back. In 2024 alone, NatWest has bought back £2.2bn of shares from the Treasury, cutting government ownership by more than two-thirds since December.

The Labor government scrapped plans for a public sale of shares in NatWest in June, which was expected to result in the sale of part of the government’s 20% stake but was called off over fears it could cost taxpayers up to £450 million. The “Tel Sid”-style public offering was initially proposed by the previous Conservative government.

The Treasury Department’s latest sale continues the trend of privatizing the bank, which has been a major goal since a taxpayer-funded bailout more than a decade ago.

Jimmy Young

Jamie is an experienced business journalist and senior reporter at Business Matters, with over a decade of experience reporting on UK SME business. Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops to stay at the forefront of emerging trends. When Jamie is not reporting on the latest business developments, he is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs, sharing their wealth of knowledge to inspire the next generation of business leaders.