London, February 13, 2026, 08:05 (GMT) — Regular session
- NatWest shares ticked higher early Friday, with the bank raising its medium-term return targets in its full-year update.
- The lender put forward a larger dividend and detailed plans for a £750 million buyback set for the first half of 2026.
- Management’s set to brief investors at 09:00 GMT, where specifics on the 2026 outlook and the Evelyn Partners wealth initiative are expected to draw attention.
NatWest Group Plc NWG.L edged up roughly 0.4% to 597.2 pence during early Friday trading in London, a 2.2 pence gain from its previous close. Investors were working through the bank’s full-year numbers and its new guidance.
Timing is key here. The value of UK banks now leans heavily on how fast their earnings settle down, with falling interest rates squeezing net interest margins — that’s the difference between what they make from loans and what they pay out on deposits.
NatWest wants shareholders on board with its plan to maintain strong returns, even as it moves further into fee-based business. The bank’s making a bigger push into wealth management—a crowded sector where growth isn’t as easily snapped up as it might seem.
NatWest posted a jump in operating profit before tax, reporting £7.7 billion for 2025 versus £6.2 billion the previous year. Total income reached £16.6 billion, with net interest margin ticking up to 2.34%. Return on tangible equity (RoTE) landed at 19.2%. The bank’s CET1 ratio, used to assess core capital, came in at 14.0%. Directors recommended a final dividend of 23.0 pence, pushing the year’s payout to 32.5 pence. Management also flagged plans for a £750 million buyback in the first half of 2026.
Paul Thwaite, the chief executive, announced NatWest is “raising our ambition and sharpening our strategic focus” as the bank bumped its RoTE target for 2028 to over 18%—that’s up from a previous goal of more than 15% set for 2027. NatWest also posted a 24% jump in pretax operating profit for 2025, just above the £7.5 billion average forecast from analysts polled by the bank. Growth in assets under management and administration was noted even ahead of the most recent wealth acquisition. Reuters
NatWest shares slid 2.55% to £5.95 by Thursday’s close, lagging behind the FTSE 100’s 0.67% drop, according to MarketWatch data. The stock’s now sitting about 16% off its 52-week high of £7.05 from Feb. 4.
Still, there’s risk tied to the wealth pivot. NatWest on Feb. 9 said it would buy Evelyn Partners for £2.7 billion, debt included—a play to boost fee revenue as interest rates head south. RBC Capital Markets’ Benjamin Toms called the deal “transformational” for plugging a gap in NatWest’s affluent client lineup. Jefferies flagged that the price tag could drag on earnings per share through 2028. NatWest, for its part, projected a hit of about 130 basis points to its core equity tier 1 ratio. Reuters
Traders are eyeing NatWest to see if its guidance withstands the coming months’ rate shifts—and if costs stay in check while the bank steps up spending on wealth and digital initiatives.
NatWest is set to update investors with a management presentation at 09:00 GMT on Friday, followed by a fixed income session at 13:30 GMT. The first-quarter results land May 1, marking the next scheduled trading update.
