NatWest Group Expands Mortgage Portfolio with £2.5 Billion Acquisition from Metro Bank

(IN BRIEF) NatWest Group has announced the acquisition of a £2.5 billion portfolio of prime residential mortgages from Metro Bank, which will add around 10,000 new customer accounts to NatWest. These accounts will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank following the transfer. The transaction aligns with NatWest’s strategy to grow its retail mortgage book and follows a similar acquisition from Sainsbury’s Bank. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2024, pending approval from the Competition & Markets Authority. The impact on NatWest’s CET1 ratio will be minimal, reducing it by less than 10 basis points from its current 13.6%.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 26-Jul-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — NatWest Group is set to acquire a £2.5 billion portfolio of prime residential mortgages from Metro Bank, welcoming approximately 10,000 new customers into its fold.

On July 26, 2024, NatWest Group plc (“NatWest Group”) announced its agreement with Metro Bank plc (“Metro Bank”) to purchase a substantial portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages. This portfolio boasts a weighted average current loan to value of approximately 62%.

Upon the transaction’s completion, expected in the second half of 2024, NatWest Group will integrate around 10,000 customer accounts. These accounts will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank, maintaining current arrangements post-transfer.

Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest Group, commented on the acquisition, stating, “We are pleased to acquire £2.5 billion of prime residential mortgages from Metro Bank and look forward to welcoming approximately 10,000 new customers to NatWest Group. This acquisition supports our strategic goal of expanding our Retail mortgage portfolio within our existing risk framework, offering attractive returns. It complements our recent acquisition from Sainsbury’s Bank and reinforces our commitment to smooth transitions, as demonstrated by our successful integration of Metro Bank mortgages in 2020.”

The transaction is expected to have a minimal impact on NatWest Group’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, reducing it by less than 10 basis points from the reported 13.6% as of June 30, 2024.

Additional Information:

• The acquisition will be executed through NatWest Group’s subsidiary, National Westminster Bank plc.
• The completion of the transaction is subject to a satisfactory response from the Competition & Markets Authority.
• NatWest Group’s CET1 ratio stood at 13.6% as of June 30, 2024.

Legal Entity Identifiers

NatWest Group plc: 2138005O9XJIJN4JPN90

National Westminster Bank plc: 213800IBT39XQ9C4CP71

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements that include, without limitation, the words ‘expect’, ‘estimate’, ‘project’, ‘anticipate’, ‘commit’, ‘believe’, ‘should’, ‘intend’, ‘will’, ‘plan’, ‘could’, ‘probability’, ‘risk’, ‘Value-at-Risk (VaR)’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘objective’, ‘may’, ‘endeavour’, ‘outlook’, ‘optimistic’, ‘prospects’ and similar expressions or variations on these expressions. These statements concern or may affect future matters, such as NatWest Group’s future economic results, business plans and strategies. In particular, this document includes forward-looking statements relating to NatWest Group plc in respect of, but not limited to: its economic and political risks, its financial position, profitability and financial performance (including financial, capital, cost savings and operational targets), the implementation of its strategy, its climate and sustainability-related targets, increasing competition from incumbents, challengers and new entrants and disruptive technologies, its access to adequate sources of liquidity and funding, its regulatory capital position and related requirements, its exposure to third party risks, its ongoing compliance with the UK ring-fencing regime and ensuring operational continuity in resolution, its impairment losses and credit exposures under certain specified scenarios, substantial regulation and oversight, ongoing legal, regulatory and governmental actions and investigations, and NatWest Group’s exposure to operational risk, conduct risk, cyber, data and IT risk, financial crime risk, key person risk and credit rating risk. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences in current expectations include, but are not limited to, future growth initiatives (including acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships), the outcome of legal, regulatory and governmental actions and investigations, the level and extent of future impairments and write-downs, legislative, political, fiscal and regulatory developments, accounting standards, competitive conditions, technological developments, interest and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic and political conditions and the impact of climate-related risks and the transitioning to a net zero economy. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may impact any forward-looking statement or NatWest Group plc’s actual results are discussed in NatWest Group plc’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F, NatWest Group plc’s Interim Management Statement for Q1 and H1 2024 on Form 6-K, and its other public filings. The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date of this document and NatWest Group plc does not assume or undertake any obligation or responsibility to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

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SOURCE: NatWest Group