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Vicky McKeever writes:
NatWest has reported a 24% jump in operating profit for the year, in annual results that beat expectations.
Operating profit before tax for the year came in at £7.71bn, topping expectations of £7.49bn, according to consensus estimates provided by the bank. For the fourth quarter, this figure was £1.94bn, also besting forecasts of £1.72bn.
Fourth-quarter profit came in at £1.48bn, compared to expectations for £1.24bn. For the year, profit was up 21% year-on-year at £5.83bn, also topping estimates of £5.59bn.
Net interest income (NII) – the difference between what the bank pays out to savers and receives from borrowers in interest – came in at £3.44bn in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations of £3.33bn. For the year, NII was up nearly 14% to £12.82bn, against forecasts of £12.72bn.
This contributed to a total income figure of £4.32bn for the fourth quarter and £16.64bn for the year, beating expectations of ££4.21bn and £16.53bn respectively.
This drove a 21% rise in profit attributable to shareholders to £5.48bn, with a 27% increase in earnings per share to 68p and a return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 19.2%.