NatWest Shares Hit 52-Week High After Profit Jumps 20%

NatWest Group (LON: NWG), the Edinburgh-based retail and commercial bank, said pre-tax profit rose 20% to £4.3bn in the first half, beating analyst estimates of around £4bn. Shares jumped 3.2% to close at 705.8p on Friday, a fresh 52-week high against a 52-week range of 500p to 722.6p, extending a rally that has taken the stock up around 4.4% over the week from 676p on 24 July.

NatWest published its half-year results before Friday’s market open, raising full-year 2026 income guidance to £17.9bn, up from a previous range of £17.2bn to £17.6bn. The bank said it will now consider a share buyback from its full-year 2026 results, six months earlier than previously guided, and raised its interim dividend by 26% to 12p per share, a total payout of £955m.

The upgrade was driven by a 20 basis point widening in net interest margin, the difference between what the bank earns on loans and pays on deposits, to 2.48%, which lifted net interest income to £6.9bn. Guidance also reflects a £275m boost from the integration of Evelyn Partners, the wealth management firm NatWest acquired for £2.7bn, adding around £69bn of assets under management. Return on tangible equity, a measure of how profitably the bank uses shareholder capital, rose to 19.7% from 18.2% at the end of March, with full-year guidance now above 19%.

The results echoed a stronger earnings season across UK banks. Lloyds Banking Group reported a 23% rise in first-half pre-tax profit to £4.3bn, while Barclays posted a 30% jump in second-quarter profit to £3.3bn, reinforcing the broader re-rating in UK bank shares that NatWest’s move extends.