The figures reflect the impact of this year's acquisition of Evelyn Partners.

The private banking and wealth management arm of NatWest Group – a business now including Evelyn Partners as well as Coutts – logged £212 million ($285 million) in operating profit for the six months to 30 June this year, against £179 million a year before. 

Assets under management and administration surged – boosted by the Evelyn Partners acquisition. 

Total income was £595 million, rising from £539 million a year before, or a gain of 10 per cent; the cost/income ratio was 63.2 per cent, narrowing by 320 basis points.NatWest said in a statement today.

"Together, we have created the UK's leading private banking and wealth management franchise, combining complementary strengths in private banking, investment management and financial planning, positioning us strongly to support clients through every stage of their financial journey," Emma Chrystal, CEO for private banking and wealth management, NatWest Group, said. 

NatWest wrapped up its previously-announced Evelyn Partners acquisition on 30 June, buying all of Evelyn’s issued share capital for a total of £2.2 billion. This move has accelerated NatWest’s strategy to boost the share of earnings it makes from “capital-light, fee-based income streams,” it said in its statement. NatWest has recognised £28 million of acquisition-related costs within its operating expenses.

The bank said it logged £2 billion in net asset management inflows – a record – equivalent to 9.2 per cent of opening balances on an annualised basis. These inflows were supported by more than 45,000 customers across the group investing with the bank for the first time, rising by more than 60 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Total assets under management and administration rose 130.3 per cent from 31 March to £130.6 billion. This jump was caused to some extent by the arrival of the Evelyn business, which brought £71.7 billion of AuM into the organisation. Assets under management stood at £116.4 billion, rising from £58.5 billion at end-November.

At group level, NatWest said it made a profit of £3.18 billion in the half-year period, rising 18.9 per cent year-on-year; pre-tax operating profit rose 20.4 per cent to £4.318 billion. Total income rose 11 per cent year-on-year to £8.862 billion; net interest income rose 12.6 per cent to £6.89 billion. NatWest said its return on tangible equity is 19.7 per cent.

Capital generation pre-distributions stood at 137 basis points, before the impact of the Evelyn Partners purchase, and earnings per share was 38.1 pence, rising 23.3 per cent on a year before. 

NatWest’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard international measure of a bank’s capital shock absorber – was 13.2 per cent, a decline from 14.3 per cent a year earlier.