REG - NatWest Group plc - AGM Statement

NatwestAnnouncement

Yesterday 11:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260428:nRSb2150Ca&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2150C  NatWest Group plc  28 April 2026

NatWest Group plc

 

Annual General Meeting Statements

 

28 April 2026

 

NatWest Group plc will hold its Annual General Meeting at 11:00am today. The
meeting will deal with the proposed resolutions as set out in the Notice of
Meeting previously issued to shareholders.

 

The following is an extract from the remarks to be made by Chair, Rick
Haythornthwaite and Group Chief Executive Officer, Paul Thwaite at the
meeting.

 

Rick Haythornthwaite

Good morning, and welcome to NatWest Group's Annual General Meeting for 2026.
It is a pleasure to welcome you here today at our Gogarburn headquarters in
Scotland, a nation that has long been central to our story, and which
continues to play a vital role in the future we are building together.

 

Let me begin by thanking you, our shareholders, for your continued support,
both here today and through our ongoing programme of engagement, including
last week's Virtual Shareholder Event.

 

Before turning to our performance, it is worth recognising the significance of
the past year for NatWest Group, following our return to full private
ownership in May 2025, when the UK Government sold its final shares in the
bank. This milestone is a testament to the progress we have made in recent
years, as well as the longer-term transformation that has seen our bank become
simpler, stronger and more customer focused.

 

It was a symbolic moment because it turns the page on an important chapter in
our history, but it also reflects how far the organisation has come. And it
gives us the opportunity to look forward with confidence and conviction while
never forgetting the lessons of the past.

 

We have started 2026 with positive momentum on which we can build. We are not
standing still. A new chapter is well underway, one defined not by recovery,
but by an ambition to succeed for the long term, helping turn our customers
possibilities into progress across the UK.

 

Turning now to performance. The past year was one of strong, consistent
delivery against our strategic priorities. However, our progress is not
measured solely in financial results, important though they are. It is
measured in the trust we continue to earn, and in the long-term value we
create for our shareholders, our customers, and the wider economy. Our
strategy is delivering, and we have continued to grow our customer base,
strengthen our core franchises, and invest in the capabilities that will
define the bank of the future.

 

For shareholders, we can see this in tangible outcomes. The Group delivered
attractive returns through a combination of dividends and share buybacks.
Having raised our dividend payout ratio, we announced total dividends per
share of 32.5p, an increase of 51% compared to the previous year. Alongside
this, we also announced a £750 million buyback in July, and a further £750m
buyback a few months ago, at our Full Year Results.  This is the result of
disciplined execution - on growth, on capital, and on risk. And it reinforces
a simple truth: this is a bank that is performing today, while building for
tomorrow.

 

This means giving confidence to our shareholders in the sustainability of our
returns and having the capacity to invest in our future, building on the
strong organic growth we are already delivering, as well as considering
acquisitions where we see both a clear strategic fit and value for
shareholders.

 

Our acquisition of Evelyn Partners reflects our positive momentum, it's a
timely and compelling transaction which I know Paul will expand on shortly.

 

As owners of the business, shareholders rightly expect the Group to allocate
capital with discipline and with clear strategic intent in order to further
strengthen our performance. The Board takes that responsibility seriously. We
know that consistency of delivery truly matters and that confidence is earned
over time.

 

Over recent years, uncertainty and volatility have been a persistent feature
of our operating environment. Growth is present, but it is uneven. It varies
by sector, by region and by levels of financial resilience, and it demands
discipline and selectivity. What has been striking over the past year is that
behaviours have often proved more resilient than sentiment. Across households
and businesses, people continue to plan, invest and adapt, even in the face of
uncertainty, but with greater discipline and a renewed focus on returns and
value for money.

 

We should be clear: there are near-term challenges. Recent global events mean
pressures have elevated for many households and businesses.  From a Board
perspective, maintaining a longer‑term view is essential, and we believe
deeply in the long-term strengths of the UK.

 

The UK faces into today's challenges with significant structural strengths,
including strong institutions, deep pools of talent and an enduring capacity
to innovate. For a bank such as ours, this environment only reinforces our
role: to use our strength and expertise to support customers through periods
of adjustment, to allocate capital with discipline, and to help enable the
investment that underpins future growth.

 

One of the most important and rewarding parts of my role is staying close to
those we serve and to those who shape our operating environment. Even in the
past month alone, that engagement has taken me to the United States, meeting
with technology leaders; to business innovation events with AI start‑ups;
and closer to home, spending time with businesses and communities in Kent.

 

Through our Board engagement, we hear directly from customers, colleagues,
policymakers and regulators across the UK and internationally, and those
perspectives matter.

 

And wherever I've been, it is clear that there is a genuine appetite to
understand how banks can support long-term growth. Those conversations also
reinforce something fundamental: growth and opportunity are not uniform. Which
is why our local connections, combined with our national scale and insight,
are not only a defining source of strength for NatWest Group; they are central
to how we support growth across the UK.

 

Let me bring that to life with an example here in Scotland, a nation where we
have deep roots and a long‑standing commitment to supporting local economies
and communities. As we approach the Royal Bank's 300‑year anniversary next
year, that sense of long‑term partnership matters more than ever, not only
as part of our history, but as part of the future we are building.

 

Over the past year, we have continued to strengthen the support we provide to
Scotland's entrepreneurs and businesses. We have announced a new accelerator
partnership with the University of Edinburgh, launched specialist Venture
Banking services, and announced the launch of IP lending, reflecting our focus
on backing innovation and helping businesses realise the value of their ideas.

 

Just last week, we also opened our new Accelerator Hub on Princes Street in
Edinburgh. From the heart of the city, this hub brings together expert
support, mentoring and networks, helping ambitious businesses connect capital
with opportunity.

 

This builds on our long-standing accelerator programme, which has supported
more than 1,000 entrepreneurs across Scotland over the past decade, and forms
part of our wider commitment to substantially increase support for 5,000
Scottish entrepreneurs in the years ahead. That is what supporting growth
looks like in practice, combining deep local relationships with the scale and
capability of a national bank.

 

Of course, customer expectations continue to evolve, shaped by technology,
data and artificial intelligence or AI in now common parlance, and by the pace
of change across the wider economy. These shifts bring challenges, but also
significant opportunities.

We see AI as an accelerant of our strategy, helping us serve customers more
seamlessly, support colleagues to work more effectively, and strengthen how we
manage risk and resilience. At our core, banks like NatWest play a vital
enabling role: supporting investment, backing businesses as they grow, and
helping to create jobs and prosperity throughout the country.

 

But we are not simply providers of capital. Our role goes well beyond lending.
Increasingly, we are long‑term partners, offering expert advice and insights
and connecting capital with opportunity.

 

In this endeavour, a predictable, proportionate approach to regulation and
policy making is essential to giving businesses and consumers the confidence
to invest, innovate and succeed. And we have seen a marked shift in recent
years, as politicians and regulators have sought to prioritise growth,
balancing it with the need for stability.

 

There has been some notable progress, beyond the rhetoric, but it remains
early days. And business must play its part. Through collaboration between the
private and public sectors, we can build a stable, supportive environment that
fosters innovation, contributes to positive and sustainable economic outcomes
and supports long‑term competitiveness and growth.

 

As a Board, we have remained closely engaged on the issues that matter most to
the long‑term success of the Group, be that our strategic intent, our risk
appetite or how we are positioning ourselves for a changing economic and
technological landscape.

 

We have also ensured the Board evolves in the right way, with the leadership,
culture and capabilities needed to support our ambitions. Late last year, we
welcomed Josh Critchley as an independent non-executive director. And in
February, Albert Hitchcock joined the Board.  Together, they bring a breadth
of skills, experience and perspective that strengthens the Board, and I very
much look forward to working with them as we continue to guide the Group
through the next year.

 

On 31 March, Yasmin Jetha retired after nine years of outstanding service. I
want to thank Yasmin for her significant contribution and wise counsel over
that period.

And we were deeply saddened by the passing of Frank Dangeard, Chair of NatWest
Markets, in August. His wisdom and integrity left a lasting impression on all
of us.

 

As we begin 2026, we do so with conviction and positive momentum, and with a
clear sense of how we can build on our progress. So where does this leave us?

We are a bank in good shape. We have a clear strategy, we are delivering
against it, and we are building the capabilities that will define our future
competitiveness.  There is more to do, but the direction is clear, and the
foundations are strong.

 

Let me conclude by turning to our leadership.  I have great confidence in
Paul and the leadership team. They have demonstrated both the discipline to
deliver and the ambition to raise our sights. Paul will now take you through
the Group's performance and strategy in more detail, and outline how we are
continuing to execute our priorities for the years ahead.

 

But from the perspective of the Board, the message is simple: this is a bank
with momentum, a bank with purpose, a bank with the strength to navigate
uncertainty and a bank with the ambition and the capability to succeed with
our customers in the years to come.

 

Paul Thwaite

 

Thank you, Rick and good morning everyone.

 

Let me begin with a question, one that sits behind everything we do as a bank.
Are we making it easier for people, businesses and communities across the UK
to make progress? In short: are we helping our customers to succeed?

 

Because, ultimately, that is the test of our strategy, and how we create
sustainable value for our shareholders and the wider UK economy.

 

Our scale and our performance only matter if they translate into real,
positive outcomes for customers:

·    Whether supporting a business to start, to grow or to invest

·    Helping people to buy their first home

·    Or helping families save and plan for the future.

 

Today, I firmly believe we can answer that question with confidence.

 

Put simply, yes we are.  And the progress we made in 2025 is clear evidence
of that. It was another year that showed our strategy is working. Where the
activity of our customers underpinned our strong financial performance.

 

Income of £16.4 billion, operating profits of £7.7 billion and a return on
tangible equity of 19.2 per cent, all significantly higher than the year
before. But, just as importantly, we continued to grow with our customers,
supporting more than 20 million people, families and businesses in every
nation and region of the UK.

 

The momentum we've built is already visible, in our performance, in our
delivery, and in the way we are executing against our three strategic
priorities.

 

Our first priority is disciplined growth. Across the Group, healthy levels of
customer activity drove broad-based growth, with deposits, lending and assets
under management all higher year on year.

 

And we continued to introduce new products and services to meet customers'
changing needs, from the launch of our family-backed mortgage to extending our
Intellectual Property-backed lending for business. In Retail, we supported
families and households to manage their finances with confidence. And we made
home ownership a reality for more people, growing mortgage balances by £7
billion and helping over 50,000 customers to buy their first home.

 

In Commercial and Institutional Banking, we continued to support one and a
half million businesses, from start-ups and scale-ups to large institutions,
backing investment and growth across the economy, including in sectors such as
infrastructure, social housing, and climate and transition finance, where we
can support sustainable economic growth at scale.

 

And in Private Banking and Wealth, we helped more customers to save and
invest, strengthening our proposition to meet growing demand for
high‑quality financial advice and long‑term planning, with assets under
management increasing by 20 per cent, including 50,000 customers investing
with us for the first time.

 

Our organic growth was complemented by the successful integration of more than
1m Sainsbury's Bank customers and the £2.3bn mortgage portfolio from Metro
Bank. And, earlier this year, we announced our acquisition of Evelyn Partners,
set to complete in the months ahead.

 

Alongside this, our second priority of bank-wide simplification remains a
critical driver of future growth.  By reducing complexity, improving
productivity and enhancing customer experiences, we create capacity to invest,
innovate and serve customers better.

 

Accelerated deployment of technology and AI has enabled faster innovation,
more personalised services and safer, more resilient banking - but only when
applied with judgement and care.

 

Applied in the right way, the benefits for both customers and colleagues are
clear. It means quicker, more informed decisions, smoother experiences, and
more time for our people to focus on where they add the greatest value.

 

That is how technology strengthens trust, by putting better tools and
information in the hands of our brilliant people.

 

AI can complement their judgement, experience and expertise. Done responsibly,
it improves decision‑making and frees colleagues to focus on what matters
most: building trusted relationships and delivering better outcomes for
customers.

 

On our final strategic priority, our active risk and balance sheet management
remains a core strength. Strong capital generation is underpinned by a
resilient, well-diversified loan book that continues to perform well.

 

This means we are well positioned to continue helping our customers to invest
and grow, whilst providing the advice, insight or support they might need to
navigate increasing uncertainty. As well as investing in our business and
delivering attractive returns to shareholders.

 

We are already well into 2026, and we have started the year with positive
momentum and confidence in our priorities. Having already raised our
ambitions, we are now delivering against them.

 

And despite the ongoing uncertainty, we continue to see potential for
long‑term, sustainable growth across the UK economy. Whether that's
leveraging our leading positions in Social Housing and infrastructure,
bringing our financial planning and wealth management expertise to more
customers or supporting high growth sectors such as technology, life sciences
and advanced manufacturing.

 

When I stood in this room last year at the Scottish Global Investment Summit,
I spoke about the importance of backing the businesses that drive investment,
productivity and job creation across the UK. That also means helping
businesses to look beyond the UK, to trade, export and compete
internationally.

 

These are businesses with ambition and the potential to grow - operating
across a wide range of sectors and regions, and often navigating moments of
real complexity as they expand. We are helping turn ambition into action,
giving businesses the confidence to invest, the backing to innovate, and the
support they need as they adapt and scale. Opportunity is not confined to one
part of the country. There is real long-term potential across every nation and
region of the UK, and we are well placed to help unlock it.

 

Against the shocks and sustained uncertainty, we have seen in recent years the
importance of strong, well‑capitalised banks becomes even clearer.  Not
simply because of the capital we provide, but because of the certainty,
stability and expertise we bring, underpinned by deep, long-standing
relationships in the communities we serve.

 

As I've said before, strong economies need strong banks. Banks that support
growth through economic cycles, not just when conditions are favourable.
Long-term growth depends on confidence: confidence that risks are understood
and managed, that decisions are well judged, and that banks will remain
resilient in the face of change.

 

This is not about moving faster at any cost, but about building on the
foundations we have put in place to manage economic, social and environmental
impact in order to support ambition responsibly and sustainably. And it is
this combination of resilience, discipline and long‑term perspective that
allows us to support investment, productivity and sustainable growth across
the UK economy, while delivering enduring value for our shareholders.

 

Because what gives us confidence is not just the opportunity ahead, but the
clarity we have about where we are choosing to focus, and how we are
supporting customers along the way.

 

Our acquisition of Evelyn Partners is one example of this. At its heart, this
transaction is about responding to a growing customer demand for financial
planning and advice. We're entering what is likely to be a defining decade for
financial advice, with people living longer, an historic generational wealth
transfer under way and technology changing how people save, plan and make
decisions about their long-term finances. Evelyn Partners transforms our
ability to meet those changing needs, deepens long-term relationships, and
broadens access to high-quality financial planning and investment management.

 

So, as we continue through the next phase of our strategy, we are building on
the strengths we have established and stepping up our ambition to make the
most of the opportunities ahead.

 

Taken together, our strategic priorities will allow us to grow with our
customers, generate sustainable returns for our shareholders, and support the
wider economy. The near-term pressures are very real, but we are confident and
optimistic about our future, and about the UK's long-term potential.

 

And we know that NatWest has an important role to play in helping the UK to
navigate challenge and grow, through our committed colleagues, trusted
relationships, and a clear sense of the responsibilities to the customers and
communities we serve. We want to be a trusted partner to them and to the UK,
whilst building sustainable value in our business, and delivering for our
shareholders.

 

And if we return to the question I began with, whether we are helping people,
businesses and communities move forward with confidence, I believe the answer
is clear. We have momentum, but there is no room for complacency. Customer
expectations continue to evolve, and the pace of change across our industry
remains high. What matters is that we have the foundations, the capability and
the discipline to anticipate change and respond at pace.

 

Before I finish, I want to briefly say thank you. First, to our colleagues
across NatWest Group. Their commitment, professionalism and focus on customers
underpins everything we have achieved. And also to our customers and our
shareholders, for the trust you place in NatWest Group.

 

This trust is the foundation of banking, and it is something we never take for
granted. So, thank you again for your continued support.

 

Forward-looking statements

This announcement may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as
statements with respect to NatWest Group's financial condition, results of
operations and business, including its strategic priorities, financial,
investment and capital targets, and climate and sustainability-related
targets, commitments and ambitions described herein. Statements that are not
historical facts, including statements about NatWest Group's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Words, such as 'expect',
'estimate', 'project', 'anticipate', 'commit', 'believe', 'should', 'intend',
'will', 'plan', 'could', 'target', 'goal', 'objective', 'may', 'outlook',
'prospects' and similar expressions or variations on these expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this
announcement may include forward-looking statements relating , but not limited
to: NatWest Group's outlook, guidance and targets (including in relation to
RoTE, total income, other operating expenses, loan impairment rate, capital
generation pre-distributions, customer assets and liabilities growth rate,
cost-income ratio, CET1 ratio, RWA levels and payment of dividends), its
financial position, profitability and financial performance, the
implementation of its strategy, its access to adequate sources of liquidity
and funding, its regulatory capital position and related requirements, its
impairment losses and credit exposures under certain specified scenarios,
substantial regulation and oversight, ongoing legal, regulatory and
governmental actions and investigations. Forward-looking statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results
and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or
performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause or contribute to differences in current expectations include,
but are not limited to, future growth initiatives (including acquisitions,
joint ventures and strategic partnerships), the outcome of legal, regulatory
and governmental actions and investigations, the level and extent of future
impairments and write-downs, legislative, political, fiscal and regulatory
developments, accounting standards, competitive conditions, technological
developments such as artificial intelligence, interest and exchange rate
fluctuations, general economic and political conditions and uncertainties,
exposure to third party risk, operational risk, conduct risk, cyber, data and
IT risk, financial crime risk, key person risk and credit rating risk and the
impact of climate and sustainability-related risks and the transitioning to a
net zero economy. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may
impact any forward-looking statement or NatWest Group plc's actual results are
discussed in NatWest Group plc's 2025 Annual Report on Form 20-F, NatWest
Group's Interim Management Statement for Q1 2026, and its other public
filings. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak
only as of the date of this announcement and NatWest Group plc does not assume
or undertake any obligation or responsibility to update any of the
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally
required.

 

 

 

Name of contact and telephone number for queries:-

Investor Relations

+ 44 (0)207 672 1758

 

Media Relations

+44 (0)131 523 4205

Legal Entity Identifier: 2138005O9XJIJN4JPN90

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  AGMIPMLTMTMTMLF



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved