London, Feb 15, 2026, 11:17 GMT — Market closed.
- NatWest shares ended Friday down 2.49% at 580.2p, with about 82 million shares changing hands. (Share Prices)
- The lender reported 2025 pretax operating profit of £7.7 billion and lifted its RoTE target to more than 18% in 2028; it also flagged a £750 million H1 buyback. (Investing.com UK)
- UK consumer price inflation data are scheduled for Feb 18, a potential driver for rate-cut expectations that feed into bank stocks. (Gov)
NatWest Group Plc (NWG.L) closed at 580.2 pence on Friday, down 2.5%, after trading between 565p and 609p. Turnover was about 82 million shares. In New York, NatWest’s ADRs (NWG) were last at $16.07, down about 1.6%. (Investing)
The move came as investors picked through NatWest’s annual results and a fresh set of medium-term targets. The bank reported 2025 pretax profit of 7.7 billion pounds ($10.5 billion) and raised its return on tangible equity — RoTE, a profitability gauge that strips out intangible assets — to more than 18% in 2028, from over 15% in 2027. “We are raising our ambition and sharpening our strategic focus, with stretching new targets in place,” CEO Paul Thwaite said. (Reuters)
The bigger question sitting behind that targets upgrade is NatWest’s push into wealth management, led by its planned 2.7 billion pound purchase of Evelyn Partners. “Although we consider this to be a bolt on transaction, it would be transformational, filling the gap NWG has in its affluent wealth offering,” wrote Benjamin Toms, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. Jefferies said the valuation could shave about 2% off earnings per share through 2028 versus a no-deal scenario. (Reuters)
In its deal statement, NatWest said the purchase would be funded from existing resources and would reduce its core equity tier 1 ratio — a key capital buffer measure — by about 130 basis points (1.3 percentage points). NatWest expects completion in summer 2026 and put annual run-rate cost synergies at about 100 million pounds, with around 150 million pounds of costs to achieve. It also said it expected its next share buyback announcement at its first-half 2027 results. (TradingView)
A separate filing on Thursday showed NatWest bought back 880,853 shares at a volume-weighted average price of 607.78 pence under an existing programme run through Merrill Lynch International (BofA). The purchases form part of that buyback plan, the filing said. (TradingView)
Shareholders also have the dividend timetable ahead. NatWest is proposing a final dividend of 23.0 pence per share for 2025, with the stock set to trade ex-dividend on March 19 ahead of a May 5 payment, subject to approval at the April 28 annual general meeting. (NatWest Group Investors)
NatWest added another talking point on Friday when it softened parts of its fossil-fuel lending rules, removing a number of bans on oil and gas lending. ShareAction said it would call on investors to oppose chair Richard Haythornethwaite at the forthcoming annual meeting, while NatWest’s sustainability chief Kirsty Britz said the shift reflected “the complexity of the economic transition”. (Reuters)
But the picture is not clean. Evelyn still needs regulatory sign-off and delivery on the promised savings; any delay would leave investors second-guessing the pace of capital returns. The climate-policy row could also flare into the AGM and sit awkwardly alongside NatWest’s bid to widen its investor base.
When London trading resumes on Monday, investors will test whether the higher target and buyback help stabilise the stock after a volatile week. The next hard catalyst comes on Feb 18 with the Office for National Statistics’ UK inflation release, a datapoint that can move interest-rate expectations and bank valuations. (Gov)
