The early weeks of 2026 are turning out to be memorable for the UK lender, having announced a major wealth management business takeover and now reporting a stronger set of results at group level and in the private banking and wealth arm.

NatWest Group, which this week announced it was significantly boosting its wealth arm by buying fellow UK-based firm Evelyn Partners, today said its wealth business – including its Coutts private bank – logged a sharp rise for operating profit in 2025 from a year before.

Operating profit in the wealth division stood at £394 million ($536.4 million) last year, up from £264 million a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of last year, profit was £107 million, up from £75 million, the bank said in a statement. Assets under management and administration (AuMA) rose to £58.5 billion last year from £48.9 billion.

Return on equity in the private banking and wealth arm stood at 21.7 per cent, NatWest said. 

Full-year income was £162 million, 16.7 per cent higher on the level for 2024, reflecting wider margins on deposits from strong hedge income, balance growth across deposits, AuMA, and higher transactional fees including some one-off adjustments. Operating costs stood at £727 million, rising £716 million in 2024.

The cost/income ratio, excluding litigation and conduct issues, was 64.1 per cent, declining from 73.6 per cent. 

Group figures
Across the whole of NatWest, pre-tax profit for 2025 was £7.708 billion, rising 24.4 per cent; total income rose 13.2 per cent year-on-year to £16.641 billion; total operating costs rose by 1.4 per cent to £8.262 billion. Return on tangible equity rose to 19.2 per cent from 17.5 per cent. 

At the end of last year, NatWest had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 14 per cent, a touch lower than a year before. The average liquidity coverage ratio was 147 per cent last year, compared with 148 per cent in 2204. (The LCR is designed to ensure that banks hold a sufficient reserve of high-quality
liquid assets (HQLA) to allow them to survive a period of significant liquidity stress lasting 30 calendar days.)

A final dividend of 23.0 pence per share is proposed, bringing the total for the year to 32.5 pence, up 51 per cent compared with 2024, the bank said.

Looking ahead
For 2026, NatWest said it expects total income, stripping out notable items, to be in the range of £17.2 billion to £17.6 billion; operating expenses, excluding litigation and conduct costs, to be around £8.2 billion, and return on tangible equity to be more than 17 per cent. 

Evelyn Partners
Group CEO Paul Thwaite commented on the impact of this week’s Evelyn Partners acquisition announcement: “Our recently announced acquisition of Evelyn Partners will create the UK's leading private bank and wealth management business. Not only does this build scale and strength in our third customer business, but it will transform the services our customers across NatWest Group can expect from us. Evelyn Partners brings leading investment capabilities, a quality direct-to-customer investment platform in Bestinvest – and the biggest in-house team of financial planners in the UK, as well as a strong regional footprint –helping us to better support and serve customers through each stage of their financial lives.”

(See an analysis of the NatWest/Evelyn acquisition here.)

Reaction
An analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown noted that the purchase price NatWest (about 15 times EBITDA) has rattled some investors; even so, results look positive.

“NatWest delivered a reassuring set of results after a tough week for the shares. Result beat expectations across the board, with profits coming in 10 per cent ahead," Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a note.
 
"The standout was lending income, while tighter cost control and lower bad-loan charges gave profits an extra lift. The balance sheet also looks healthier, with capital ticking up (though there was a benefit from the smaller-than-hoped buyback announced earlier in the week). Looking ahead, management’s 2026 outlook looks cautious rather than ambitious, but that’s typical for NatWest and leaves room for upgrades as we move through the year.

"Investors should be pleased with these results, but there’ll still be a lingering question mark around the price being paid for the Evelyn Partners deal that sent shares tumbling earlier in the week. Buybacks are still on the cards, but at a reduced level for the time being. The push for lucrative non-interest income shouldn’t come as a surprise, and while the price may feel lofty, the strategic rationale looks solid.

"UK bank valuations aren’t as attractive as they have been over the past couple of years, with much of the low-hanging fruit around poor sentiment having been resolved. Still, for high-quality names like NatWest, there’s a reasonably attractive returns profile on offer," he added.