The UK-headquartered private bank said assets under management and administration rose last year. Income rose, as did operating expenses.

Coutts, the private banking arm of NatWest Group, today reported a slip in 2024 operating profit, coming in at £264 million ($332 million), down from £291 million in 2023.

Total income rose to £969 million from £990 million; operating expenses rose over the year to £716 million from £685 million.

Assets under management/administration balances stood at £48.9 billion rising19.9 per cent on a year earlier. Net inflows were £3.2 million in 2024. Total assets under management rose to £37 billion at end-2024, from £35.7 billion.

The cost/income ratio stood at 73.6 per cent at the end of December 2024, from 68.3 per cent a year before. 

For NatWest, there was an attributable profit of £4.5 billion, and earnings per share were 53.4 pence, rising 12 per cent on a year before. Return on tangible equity was 17.5 per cent. 

Group CEO Paul Thwaite said: “2025 is also likely to be the year that NatWest Group returns to full private ownership. The acceleration towards privatisation has attracted investment from those that share our growth ambition and will mark a new, forward-looking chapter for the bank.” (NatWest, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, was bailed out by the UK government in 2008-09; the government has reduced its stake in the bank over subsequent years.)