By Elena Vardon

The U.K. government reduced its stake in NatWest Group to below 10%, progressing with plans that could see the bank return to private ownership as early as the first half of 2025.

The Treasury disposed of 80.9 million ordinary shares in the London-based retail and commercial lender, bringing its stake down to 9.99% from 10.99% previously, regulatory filings showed on Friday.

It now holds 3.21 billion voting rights that are attached to 803.3 million shares, which are worth 3.29 billion pounds ($4.17 billion) based on Thursday's closing price of 409.2 pence per share.

The government's stake in the bank resulted from its 2008 bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland, which bought NatWest in 2000 and rebranded the enlarged company as NatWest Group in 2020. The U.K. spent 45.5 billion pounds on the bailout and, at one point, owned 84% of the bank.

"We are pleased with the sustained momentum in reducing HM Treasury's stake in NatWest Group," a spokesperson for the lender said.

Chief Executive Paul Thwaite said last week that the government could fully exit its stake as early as the first half of next year at the current pace, barring a big dislocation or economic event. The state has steadily been selling down its shareholding from 38% a year ago through its trading plan and two directed buybacks. It previously said it aims to return the bank to private ownership in 2025 or 2026.

"I think we're on a very fast trajectory to private ownership," Thwaite said.

NatWest shares have risen 89% in the last 12 months, giving it a market capitalization of around 33 billion pounds.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2024 06:37 ET (11:37 GMT)

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