Aborted plan to sell taxpayers’ stake in NATWEST to individual shareholders cost the bank £24million

THE aborted plan to sell taxpayers’ stake in NATWEST to individual shareholders cost the bank £24million.

The Tory Government had been gearing up to offload the state’s 19.9 per cent NatWest stake through a discounted share sale to ordinary Brits in June.

Alamy

The Tory Government had been gearing up to offload the state’s 19.9 per cent NatWest stake[/caption]

PA

The campaign to sell the shares to individual shareholders cost £24million and was fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald[/caption]

But the election axed the plans, meaning the bank and Government wasted millions on adviser fees and a campaign fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering offloading the stake to institutional investors, rather than proceed with her predecessor’s “Tell Sid”-style offer, Bloomberg says.

NatWest revealed the cost of the failed share sale yesterday, alongside results and details of a £2.5billion takeover of Metro Bank’s mortgage books. The deal came a month after it struck a takeover of Sainsbury’s core bank. Analysts welcomed the mortgage deal as a sign that NatWest was back in growth.

 It will boost Metro Bank’s finances, after the company almost collapsed last year before a rescue deal.

NatWest shares rose by as much as 8 per cent yesterday after the bank’s profits beat expectations.

Its operating profits fell by 15.6 per cent to £3billion in the six months to June, although this was much better than analysts had predicted.

A DUTY FREEZE

RIGHTMOVE has urged the Government to keep stamp duty relief at £425,000 for first-time buyers.

The property website said that if it was reduced to homes below £300,000, only 37 per cent of buyers would benefit. Lower interest rates would also boost sales, it added, although the market is picking up.

LEWIS HOMES

THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP has the go-ahead to build rental homes.

Work will begin next year on 353 flats above a Waitrose in Bromley, Kent, with completion by 2029.

The push into housing was part of outgoing chairman Dame Sharon White’s bid to generate 40 per cent of profits outside retail by 2030.

GOOD WEEK

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NIKOLAY Storonsky, boss of London-based Revolut, which finally got its banking licence after a three-year wait.

BAD WEEK

AFP

Michael O’Leary saw profits profits drop by almost half[/caption]

RYANAIR chief Michael O’Leary, after the airline reported a near-halving of profits after slashing air fares.