22 November 2023
If you covering the announcement in the Autumn Statement about NatWest and plans that the government will sell its shares to retail investors, please see the following comment from Will Howlett, financials analyst at Quilter Cheviot:
“The government is committed to exiting its 39% stake in NatWest by 2025/26 and will now explore options to launch a share sale to retail investors in the next 12 months. We see the government reducing their stake down to zero is more symbolic rather than having any implications for the bank’s strategy. As such, we believe it is the fundamentals of the business which are more important in driving share price performance rather than any technical overhang from a shareholder reducing their stake.
“We do believe it reduces even further some of the remote risks with regard to introducing windfall taxes on banks ahead of the General Election as this would weigh further on already depressed valuations. In 2015, the government did propose something similar with regard to its stake in Lloyds but these plans were shelved. It will be interesting to see if this ends up going ahead or not.”
