The private banking division of NatWest, operating under the Coutts brand, delivered a broadly stronger set of profit and income numbers in the first half of this year and second quarter. AuM was inevitably affected by falls in stock markets this year.

Coutts, the private banking arm of UK-listed NatWest Group, today said that its operating profit in the three months to end-June 2021 stood at £105 million ($128.1 million), up from £82 million a year earlier.

For the six-month period to the end of June, meanwhile, the profit figure was £187 million, rising from £146 million, NatWest said in a statement.

"H1 presents an excellent set of results, with strong growth in our total income and operating profit. This demonstrates the continued resilience of our integrated banking, lending and wealth management business model, particularly given the volatile market we’re currently operating in. It is encouraging that, despite the more difficult economic environment, we’ve seen notable growth in new clients (up 11 per cent on 2021) and a continued determination to manage wealth, with clients’ balances continuing to represent positive growth," Peter Flavel, chief executive of Coutts, said.

Total income in Q2 rose to £245 from £183 million; operating costs widened to £146 million from £128 million, it said.

The private bank’s cost/income ratio was 61.8 per cent at the end of the half-year period to 30 June, narrowing from 67.6 per cent a year before.

NatWest said that its private bank pulled in £1.4 billion of net new money in H1 2022, down a touch from £1.6 billion a year before. Total assets under management slipped to £28.1 billion from £30.2 billion at the end of 2021, reflecting weaker markets over the past six months. Assets under administration fell to £4.8 billion from £5.4 billion, it said. 

The firm said that its profits performance was “supported by robust deposit and lending growth with strong net new money despite volatile investment market conditions.” 

There was a return on equity of 20.9 per cent, rising from the first half of 2021.

At the NatWest Group, it booked an H1 2022 attributable profit of £1.891 billion, versus £1.842 billion a year earlier. Its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a common measure of a bank’s financial “buffer” – was 14.3 per cent.