NatWest Group lifted gross new mortgage lending by £3.4bn in the primary six months of the yr, up 2% on 12 months in the past, citing “robust new enterprise”.
The lender — which owns Royal Bank of Scotland, Coutts and Ulster Bank — stated: “In line with wider market developments, new enterprise in the mortgage portfolio was accelerated in the primary quarter, forward of stamp obligation adjustments launched on 1 April 2025.”
In the second quarter of the yr, the financial institution’s mortgage balances rose by £1.4bn.
During the six-month interval, the lender added a million buyer balances from Sainsbury’s Bank, and has continued to enhance our buyer proposition, together with the launch of our family-backed mortgages”.
NatWest purchased a big proportion of the property of Sainsbury’s Bank for £125m final June, together with private loans, bank card balances, and buyer deposits. This sale didn’t embody house loans, which the grocery store bought to the Co-operative Bank for round £464m in money in August 2023.
NatWest stated its mortgage mortgage ebook got here in at £213.3bn in the interval, up 1.4% for the reason that begin of the yr, with landlord loans accounting for £21bn. Mortgages make up 51% of its general lending.
It reported a mean loan-to-value of 56% throughout its mortgage portfolio, which was “secure year-on-year”.
The lender added that arrears ranges of greater than three months “stay low” at 0.63% in opposition to an trade common of 0.89%.
NatWest additionally introduced a £750m share buyback and raised its steering for the yr because the financial institution reported its first outcomes since returning to full non-public possession in June, virtually 17 years after it acquired a £45.5bn authorities bailout at the peak of the monetary disaster.
It posted pre-tax earnings for the second quarter, which beat analyst expectations, though they have been broadly flat at £1.8bn in comparison with £1.7bn a yr earlier than. Analysts had anticipated £1.6bn in the three months to June.
NatWest chief government Paul Thwaite stated: “With optimistic momentum in our enterprise, we’re bold for the long run and see clear alternatives for additional disciplined progress.”
