NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) reported attributable profit of £3 billion for the first half of 2026, with return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 19.7%.
Earnings per share rose 23.3% year-on-year to 38.1p.
The bank's customer assets and liabilities grew £95.2 billion, or 10.7%, over the period, including £71.7 billion of assets under management and administration from the newly completed acquisition of wealth manager Evelyn Partners, alongside £23.5 billion of organic growth.
Cost-to-income ratio, excluding litigation and conduct costs, improved 2.8 percentage points year-on-year to 46.0%, aided by around £250 million of gross cost reductions in the half.
The loan impairment rate stood at 19 basis points, and the common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 13.2%, down around 80 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2025, with around 140 basis points of that decline attributed to the Evelyn Partners deal.
"The consistency of our performance, coupled with the completion of our Evelyn Partners acquisition, has given us the confidence to strengthen our guidance for 2026," said chief executive Paul Thwaite.
The bank declared an interim dividend of 12.0p per share and said it would consider share buybacks from full-year 2026, six months earlier than previously planned.
For the full year, NatWest now expects total income excluding notable items of around £17.9 billion, operating expenses excluding litigation and conduct costs of around £8.5 billion, a loan impairment rate below 25 basis points, RoTE above 19%, and capital generation pre-distributions greater than 240 basis points excluding the Evelyn Partners impact.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
NatWest delivered first-half 2026 profit of £3.0 billion with 19.7% return on tangible equity and raised full-year guidance across income, profitability and capital generation. The Evelyn Partners wealth acquisition—completed during the period—added £71.7 billion of assets under management and administration, driving customer growth of 10.7% and enabling the bank to accelerate share buyback plans by six months, signalling confidence in capital generation despite the deal reducing CET1 by approximately 140 basis points.
The combination of organic momentum (23.3% EPS growth, 2.8pp cost:income improvement, £250m cost reductions) and successful integration of a material wealth platform strengthens NatWest's diversification and fee-generation profile. Raised full-year RoTE guidance above 19% and earlier-than-planned buyback resumption reflect management confidence, though CET1 remains at 13.2% and will require sustained capital generation to rebuild headroom.
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