UK taxpayers’ stake in NatWest Group, owner of Royal Bank of Scotland, has been cut to below 50 per cent for the first time since the financial crisis of more than a decade ago.
The bank announced this morning that it has acquired 549,851,147 ordinary shares from the Treasury for £1.2 billion via a directed buyback.
With those shares accounting for 4.91 per cent of the issued share capital in the bank, the off-market purchase reduced the stake held by the UK Government to 48.06% of the company’s voting rights.
NatWest, which changed its corporate name from Royal Bank of Scotland in July 2020, moved into public hands when it was bailed out by taxpayers for £45.5 billion during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.
READ MORE: Boss Rose defends £300m bonus pool at Royal Bank owner
In the years after its rescue, the bank incurred a string of hefty losses and was dogged by a series of conduct issues as senior leaders strived to repair its reputation, reduce the scale of its operations, and ultimately restore the lender to private hands.
Today, the bank, which is led by chief executive Alison Rose, tends to attract considerably less controversy, though in December was fined £264.8m following convictions for three offences of failing to comply with money laundering regulations.
In February, NatWest reported a profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of £2.95bn for 2021, following a loss of £753m the year before. Ms Rose said then that the bank was “not yet seeing any impact” of the cost of living crisis, but noted that she is “acutely aware of the challenges that many people, families and businesses continue to face up and down the country”.
Shares in the bank were up 4.05p, or 1.84%, at around 9.55am this morning.
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