NatWest Group has reported a slight rise in quarterly earnings after its efficiency drive led to cost cutting and the reduction of about 1,000 jobs.
The banking group posted an operating pre-tax profit of £2.2 billion for the three months to September, around 2% higher than the same period last year. Net interest income – the difference between what banks earn from loans and what they pay out on deposits – reached about £3.6 billion, a jump of nearly 9% compared with the year before.
Staff reductions and acquisition impact
The efficiency programme has resulted in the reduction of about 1,000 full-time staff in the quarter, bringing the total jobs lost to 1,400 so far this year. However, the recent acquisition of wealth manager Evelyn Partners has brought around 2,200 staff into the group, increasing its overall headcount.
NatWest joins other high street lenders, including Lloyds and Barclays, that have reported higher income while interest rates have remained elevated. The bank also highlighted progress towards becoming a simpler and more technology-driven organisation.
Cost savings and technology investment
NatWest said it had achieved cost savings of around £420 million, helping reduce its cost-to-income ratio – the amount spent on running the business as a percentage of income generated – to 45.7% for the year-to-date. This has been supported by investment in technology, including AI tools, with recent trials of a spending insights helper and a fraud agent for credit card customers.
Chief executive Paul Thwaite said: “As we help more customers to save and invest, buy a home or expand their businesses, we continue to see broad-based growth in our three customer franchises, with lending, deposits and assets under management all increasing during the quarter.”
