NatWest Group Raises Guidance After Strong Q3 Performance

NatWest Group (LON: NWG) has released a robust Q3 2025 performance summary, prompting an upgrade to its full-year income and returns guidance. The bank's strong showing was underpinned by healthy customer activity and strategic focus on growth and simplification.

Total income, excluding notable items, rose to £4.2 billion, up £0.2 billion from the previous quarter. This drove an attributable profit of £1.6 billion and a Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE) of 22.3%. Net loans to customers, excluding central items, increased by £4.4 billion, indicating strong customer demand. Deposits remained broadly stable, with a slight decrease of £1.1 billion.

The bank is actively managing its balance sheet, delivering a £2.2 billion benefit from RWA (Risk Weighted Assets) management actions. This has created capacity for further growth. The Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a key indicator of financial strength, stood at 14.2%, a 0.6% increase. Tangible net asset value (TNAV) per share increased by 11 pence to 362 pence.

NatWest has upgraded its income expectations for 2025 to around £16.3 billion and now expects to achieve a Return on Tangible Equity of greater than 18.0%.

Key Drivers:

• Lending Growth: Increased lending across all customer businesses, demonstrating broad-based support for customers.
• Efficiency Gains: Simplification efforts resulted in a 5% improvement in the year-to-date cost:income ratio (excluding litigation and conduct) to 47.8%.
• AUMA Growth: Assets under management and administration (AUMA) grew strongly by 8.1% to £56.0 billion, driven by strong client net inflows.

CEO Paul Thwaite commented: “NatWest Group delivered another strong performance in the third quarter of 2025, underpinned by healthy levels of customer activity and the continued support we provide to them. This is driving positive momentum across our three businesses, with continued lending growth and deposits remaining stable.”

Retail Banking delivered a return on equity of 26.4% and an operating profit of £850 million. Net mortgage lending increased by £1.7 billion. Private Banking & Wealth Management continued its strong performance with an operating profit of £108 million and a return on equity of 23.4%. Commercial & Institutional delivered a return on equity of 19.7% and supported key sectors of the UK economy.

The bank's commitment to climate and transition finance remains strong. During Q3 2025, NatWest provided £7.6 billion in climate and transition finance, progressing towards its target of providing £200 billion between 1 July 2025 and the end of 2030.