NatWest restores shareholder payouts as profits bounce back, beating expectations | Business News
NatWest has restored shareholder dividends after swinging back into profit, significantly beating expectations.
The state-backed bank posted a pre-tax profit of £2.5bn for the six months to June, compared with a loss of £770m the year before.
It makes NatWest the latest bank to smash forecasts, following on from both Barclays and Lloyds earlier this week.
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NatWest boss Alison Rose says loan defaults remain low
Analysts had expected NatWest to report a £1.8bn profit.
The bounce back was fuelled by the release of £707m from NatWest’s “rainy day” impairment fund – cash set aside to cover loans that faced turning bad last year during the economic chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of this – £605m – came in the second quarter of the year.
NatWest said that it was releasing the money after its economic…
