Government no longer majority owner of NatWest

The government is no longer a majority shareholder in NatWest after it sold £1.2bn worth of shares in the banking group.

NatWest bought the shares at 220.5p each, their closing price on Friday, as part of an off-market purchase.

The government took a majority stake in the group, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group, after bailing it out for £45bn in the 2008 financial crisis.

NatWest boss Alison Rose called the share buyback an "important milestone".

Following the sale of a chunk of its shares, government ownership in NatWest group is now at 48.1% - down from 50.6%.

NatWest boss Ms Rose said the deal would be a "good use of capital for the bank and our shareholders".

"Reducing government ownership below 50% is an important milestone for NatWest Group and a further demonstration of the progress we are making as we continue to deliver for our customers and shareholders," she added.

NatWest Group's main baking brands are NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Coutts. It was renamed as NatWest Group in 2020 after more than 40 years under the RBS Group moniker.

The government has said previously it intends to sell £15bn worth of shares in the group by 2023. In this latest transaction, the Treasury authorised the sale of around 550 million shares.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the sale was an "important landmark in our plan to return the bank to the private sector".

"We will continue to prioritise delivering value for money for the taxpayer as we take forward this plan," he added.

NatWest Group sank into a loss in 2020 after setting aside billions of pounds to cover potential losses from loans issued during the pandemic.