London—March 18, 2026, 15:30 GMT
NatWest Group shares slipped on Wednesday, following the bank’s announcement it plans to redeem £500 million in notes on March 28—a day ahead of the stock’s ex-dividend date. Shares traded at 580.92 pence, off 0.12%, according to delayed London Stock Exchange figures, after gaining 1.43% on Tuesday.
The schedule is crucial here: NatWest has a handful of capital actions in play. Just last month, the bank raised its medium-term profit targets, announced a £750 million buyback for H1 2026, and set out a 23 pence final dividend. Shares go ex-dividend March 19—anyone buying from Thursday onward misses out on that payout.
NatWest announced in a Wednesday filing that it plans to redeem its fixed-to-fixed rate notes, originally set to mature on March 28, 2027, at par plus accrued interest. The redemption is scheduled for March 28, 2026, taking advantage of a call option embedded in the terms—allowing early repayment of the debt. Last month, Chief Executive Paul Thwaite commented alongside annual results that NatWest was “raising our ambition and sharpening our strategic focus”. Investegate
The debt call on its own isn’t huge. But it’s part of NatWest’s larger narrative to investors—after posting 2025 pretax profit of 7.7 billion pounds and outlining plans for return on tangible equity to top 18% by 2028, which tracks profit against shareholder capital.
NatWest remains far off its recent peak. According to delayed quote data, shares trade under the 705.4 pence one-year high and have slid roughly 10.9% since the start of 2026.
Still, the backdrop on Wednesday looked more positive than the share price reaction might indicate. Reuters flagged a 1.9% rise for London’s financial stocks, helped by softer oil prices and markets sitting tight ahead of the Fed’s decision and Thursday’s Bank of England meeting. Grant Slade, economist at Morningstar, called worries about a BoE hike “overdone,” maintaining his forecast for a single quarter-point cut later this year. Reuters
That rates outlook is key for NatWest. As central-bank rates fall, fee-generating wealth divisions have become more attractive—a pivot British banks are making to counter shrinking interest income. NatWest’s £2.7 billion agreement for Evelyn Partners stands out as the biggest move so far. Barclays, Lloyds, and Royal Bank of Canada all showed interest, but NatWest clinched it.
Still, there’s a hitch. NatWest shares dropped 4.5% after the Evelyn deal was unveiled in February. Jefferies analysts flagged that the purchase price might pressure earnings per share until 2028. On the flip side, RBC Capital’s Benjamin Toms described the deal as “transformational,” pointing to how it plugs a gap in NatWest’s wealth segment for affluent clients. Reuters
Thursday’s session may add another layer, as shares go ex-dividend—the cutoff for buyers to claim the upcoming payout. So far, the market’s subdued response hints that Wednesday’s bond redemption looks more like routine balance-sheet tidying than a catalyst to revalue the shares.
