NatWest to buy Metro Bank mortgage portfolio after 16% profit fall

NatWest's first-half pretax operating profit fell by a less than expected 16% to 3 billion pounds ($3.86 billion), it said on Friday, with margins hit by mortgage market competition and savers shifting deposits to higher-paying products.

The British bank also said it would buy a portfolio of prime residential mortgages from Metro Bank for 2.4 billion pounds as it looks to build up its retail banking business.

In a sign of its confidence in its performance for the rest of the year, NatWest lifted its 2024 forecast for return on tangible equity to above 14%, from the 12% expected previously.

Income for the year is expected to reach about 14 billion pounds, up from an earlier forecast of between 13 billion and 13.5 billion pounds.

The results followed a similar update from rival Lloyds Banking Group on Thursday, which reported a 14% fall in first-half profit but offered signs of optimism for the economic outlook in the second half.

"Our customers are beginning to feel more confident, with activity increasing and asset quality remaining strong, and we are well positioned to help unlock growth across the UK through our unrivalled regional network," NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite said on Friday.

The British bank said this month that the government's stake in it fell below 20%, moving the lender closer to full private ownership after its state bailout in the 2008 financial crisis.