NatWest privatisation edges closer as government sells more shares

A full privatisation of NatWest has edged closer after the government further trimmed its stake in the FTSE 100 bank.
Taxpayers own just under 11 per cent of the high street lender after the state sold further NatWest stock as part of a trading plan that steadily dribbles small amounts of shares into the market.
It comes less than a fortnight after the government offloaded a much bigger stake in the lender back to NatWest for £1 billion, a deal that has accelerated the state’s exit from the bank. At the current pace of share sales, taxpayers will be out of NatWest at some point during the first half of next year.
It will be a landmark moment. The bank has been backed by the government since the state rescued it from the brink of collapse between 2008 and 2009 during the global financial crisis. That bailout handed taxpayers a stake of almost 85 per cent in the lender, which was then called Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The government has been selling down its holding since 2015, although the pace of disposals has increased markedly since the start of this year, when the state still owned about 38 per cent.
NatWest stock is up 77 per cent so far this year and earlier this week closed at its highest level in nine years. Even so, all NatWest share sales undertaken by the state have been at a loss, having occurred below the 502p-a-share price at which the government rescued the stricken lender. The stock closed down 9¾p, or 2.5 per cent, at 390¾p on Friday amid a broader sell-off among banking shares after downbeat economic data raised expectations of further interest rate cuts next year, which would hurt lenders’ margins.
Separately, Revolut, the privately owned fintech that is trying to compete with banks, announced plans for a suite of new services in Europe next year, including mortgages in Lithuania, Ireland and France and branded ATMs in Spain.
It unveiled the plans at an event in London to celebrate it reaching 50 million customers worldwide.