London, April 24, 2026, 16:08 BST
NatWest Group plc has launched a dedicated venture banking arm for high-growth UK companies and their investors, giving the domestic lender a clearer push into startup finance days before it faces a first-quarter earnings test. The bank said NatWest Venture Banking will back companies from early-stage ideas through to global scale and will work with Amazon Web Services as a strategic partner.
The timing matters. Citi expects NatWest’s adjusted pretax profit for the first quarter to come in about 7% above consensus, stronger than its calls for Barclays and HSBC, while it sees Lloyds Banking Group about 3% below consensus. That puts NatWest near the front of a UK bank results season where investors are testing whether high margins and low loan losses can last.
Venture banking means banking services built for companies backed by venture capital or other growth investors, rather than mature firms financed mainly by steady cash flow and standard loans. NatWest said the new unit will combine relationship teams, sector expertise, flexible capital and fund-banking support for venture capital firms and their portfolio companies.
Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said founders still face “barriers to scaling.” Jenny Edwards, head of NatWest Venture Banking, called the launch a “major investment” in the UK innovation economy, while AWS said its cloud and AI tools would be part of the support offered to technology-led companies. US Press Center
NatWest is due to report first-quarter results at 7 a.m. BST on May 1, followed by a management presentation two hours later. Barclays starts the large UK bank reporting run on April 28, Lloyds follows on April 29 and HSBC reports on May 5, giving investors a quick read across domestic and international lenders.
Company-compiled consensus points to NatWest first-quarter net interest income of £3.41 billion, total income of £4.31 billion and operating profit before tax of £1.94 billion. Net interest income is the gap between what a bank earns on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits and funding, a key measure for UK lenders while rates remain high.
The bank’s own 2026 guidance has left room for debate. Matt Britzman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, wrote after NatWest’s February results that the outlook looked “cautious rather than ambitious,” leaving “room for upgrades” as the year develops. Sharecast
NatWest has already been trying to widen its earnings base beyond mortgages, deposits and business lending. In February it reported 2025 operating profit before tax of £7.7 billion, a return on tangible equity of 19.2% and 2026 income guidance of £17.2 billion to £17.6 billion, excluding notable items. Return on tangible equity measures profit against a bank’s hard shareholder capital.
The bank’s £2.7 billion deal to buy Evelyn Partners, announced earlier this year, is another piece of that shift. Reuters reported at the time that the acquisition was NatWest’s biggest since its 2008 bailout and was aimed at expanding wealth management, a business that brings fee income and is less tied to loan margins.
But the backdrop is not clean. NatWest’s own UK Business Growth Tracker showed mid-market activity still expanding in March, while confidence softened as the Middle East conflict and higher fuel and transport costs hit sentiment. Input price inflation rose to its highest level since January 2023, a risk that could feed into weaker loan demand or higher bad-loan charges if companies and households come under more strain.
For now, NatWest is trying to sell a broader story: more wealth, more startup banking, more technology links, and still-strong core earnings. The May 1 numbers will show how much of that story is already in the share price.
