, today reported profit before impairments of £2.502 billion ($3.3 billion) in the three months to end-September this year. 

Impairment losses rose, as did operating expenses, UK-listed NatWest said. Total income rose 3 per cent over the reporting period. The lender’s cost/income ratio, excluding litigation and conduct-related costs, was 45.1 per cent, slightly lower than a year earlier. Return on tangible equity rose to 21.6 per cent from 21 per cent. 

Attributable profit, at £1.53 billion, fell 4.4 per cent on a year earlier. That figure was a disappointment, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investment and trading platform IG, said. "Investors need a reason to hold UK banks right now, and NatWest has failed to come up with the goods. Profits are down and impairment charges are up. After such a huge rally for the sector the market is in no mood to give management the benefit of the doubt, and the shares are continuing their recent poor run in early trading," he said. 
 

At the end of the quarter, NatWest said it had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 13.5 per cent, up 30 basis points from a year earlier. 

Since the start of this year, shares in NatWest have fallen 8.7 per cent. 

Private banking and wealth management
NatWest said its private banking and wealth management arm, including the Coutts and Evelyn Partners organisations, logged £156 million in operating profit, rising from £108 million in the third quarter of 2025. It booked £1 billion of net assets under management inflows; total assets under management stood at £118 billion at end-September, rising from £116.4 billion and £43.7 billion a year earlier. (The previous-year figure was prior to the impact of Evelyn Partners’ purchase by NatWest, which significantly added to AuM.) 

Customer deposits dropped by £300 million, or 0.7 per cent, in the third quarter, affected by seasonal tax outflows and continued flows to assets under management and administration.

“We are simplifying access to advice and services, with record Coutts mobile NPS (net promotor score) of +57 and investment-backed lending in-app. AI use by colleagues rose 66 per cent in the quarter, while AI-powered client intelligence is helping relationship managers target new client needs when it matters most,” NatWest said.