Overview
- Operating pre-tax profit rose 24% to £7.7bn in 2025, beating forecasts, with return on tangible equity at 19.2% and a new goal of above 18% in 2028.
- Shareholder returns include a 23p final dividend, taking the year’s total to 32.5p, and a £750m buyback launched this week, with City reporting that further buybacks are paused until the first half of 2027.
- The staff bonus pool increased 10.8% to £495m as chief executive Paul Thwaite’s total pay rose by a third to about £6.6m under a revamped remuneration policy.
- NatWest advanced cost-cutting and AI adoption through partnerships including OpenAI, reporting large time savings, broader staff access to AI tools and an improved cost-to-income ratio of 48.6%.
- The £2.7bn purchase of Evelyn Partners, intended to be combined with Coutts, drew investor scrutiny over price and capital returns, with shares falling about 8% on the announcement and the finance chief defending the valuation.