NatWest Markets Plc / Key word(s): Half Year Results
NatWest Markets Plc Interim Results 2026
31.07.2026 / 09:40 CET/CEST
NatWest Markets Group
Interim Results 2026
NatWest Markets Plc ci.natwest.com
NatWest Markets Group (NWM Group)
Results for the half year ended 30 June 2026
The first half of 2026 was characterised by elevated geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty with energy market disruption and heightened volatility prompting a reassessment of inflation, interest rate and growth prospects. Customer demand remained resilient across foreign exchange risk management and fund financing activity, and while Fixed Income was lower year-on-year, it showed improved momentum in the second quarter despite ongoing market uncertainty. Against this backdrop, we remained closely engaged with customers, leveraging our specialist capabilities and established relationships while maintaining discipline on risk, costs and balance sheet deployment.
Financial review
NWM Group maintained its robust capital and liquidity position in H1 2026 and reported a profit of £77 million, compared with a profit of £89 million in H1 2025. Total income of £792 million increased by £30 million compared with H1 2025, primarily driven by foreign exchange (FX) reserves recycling, an increase in the amount recognised under the profit share arrangement with fellow NatWest Group subsidiaries and higher Capital Markets revenues, partially offset by lower Fixed Income revenues. Operating expenses increased by £85 million to £752 million, reflecting higher other operating expenses partially offset by lower litigation and conduct costs.
Financial performance
| Total income of £792 million increased by £30 million compared with £762 million in H1 2025, largely driven by FX reserves recycling, an increase in the amount recognised under the profit share arrangement with fellow NatWest Group subsidiaries and higher Capital Markets revenues. This was partially offset by lower Fixed Income revenues which were impacted by volatility from geopolitical tensions and lower customer volumes. |
| Operating expenses of £752 million in H1 2026 were £85 million higher than £667 million in H1 2025. Litigation and conduct costs decreased by £20 million to £45 million, driven by higher costs in H1 2025 from closing legacy matters including associated remediation activity. Other operating expenses increased by £105 million to £707 million in H1 2026 compared with H1 2025, largely driven by the recognition of a charge relating to historical VAT matters and higher technology-related and other centrally allocated support costs. |
| NWM Group’s total assets and liabilities increased by £18.3 billion and £18.4 billion to £186.7 billion and £179.8 billion respectively at 30 June 2026, compared with 31 December 2025. Funded assets increased in the period driven by higher settlement balances, loans - amortised cost and cash and balances at central banks. Derivative fair values increased in the period, largely driven by FX derivatives reflecting volatility across major currencies including the strengthening of USD in the period. This was partially offset by a decrease in interest rate derivatives. |
Capital and leverage
| Total NWM Plc Risk-Weighted Assets (RWAs) were £22.1 billion at 30 June 2026, compared with £21.5 billion at 31 December 2025. The increase in the period was primarily driven by increases in counterparty credit risk, market risk and credit risk. |
| NWM Plc’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 18.3% at 30 June 2026 compared with 18.4% at 31 December 2025, reflecting an increase in RWAs partially offset by higher CET1 capital. |
| Total minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) for NWM Plc at 30 June 2026 was £9.7 billion, down slightly from 31 December 2025. The maturity of an internal MREL instrument with NatWest Group plc of $1.0 billion was mostly offset by an increase in eligible capital and the issuance of two new internal MREL instruments with NatWest Group plc totalling $0.7 billion. The MREL ratio decreased to 44.0% of RWAs at 30 June 2026 compared with 45.6% at 31 December 2025, mainly reflecting the increase in RWAs in the period. |
| NWM Plc’s leverage ratio at 30 June 2026 was 4.8%, down compared with 5.0% at 31 December 2025, reflecting an increase in leverage exposure driven by increases in trading assets and other financial assets, partially offset by higher Tier 1 capital. |
Liquidity and funding
| NWM Plc’s liquidity portfolio decreased by £0.2 billion to £20.0 billion at 30 June 2026. The average Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)(1) increased to 204% compared with 198% at 31 December 2025, driven by issuance over the period and lower net outflows. |
| NWM Plc issued public benchmark transactions amounting to £3.7 billion in the six months ended 30 June 2026. Transactions comprised €2.3 billion of notes under our Euro Medium Term Note programme and $2.3 billion of notes under our US Medium Term Note programme. NWM Plc also raised funding in other formats throughout the period including, but not limited to, structured note issuance. |
ESG highlights
As at the end of June 2026, we had delivered £21.5 billion towards the NatWest Group climate and transition finance (CTF) target to provide £200 billion in climate and transition finance(1) between 1 July 2025 and the end of 2030.
Capital guidance(1)
We retain the Capital guidance provided in the NatWest Markets Plc 2025 Annual Report and Accounts.
Financial review
The table below presents an analysis of key lines of NWM Group’s income statement for the half year and quarter ended 30 June 2026. Commentary refers to the tables below as well as the condensed consolidated income statement shown on page 18.
Half year ended Quarter ended 30 June 30 June 30 June 31 March 30 June 2026 2025 2026 2026 2025 Income statement £m £m £m £m £m Net interest income 250 244 119 131 120 Non-interest income 542 518 317 225 248 Total income 792 762 436 356 368 Litigation and conduct costs (45) (65) (26) (19) (33) Other operating expenses (707) (602) (373) (334) (311) Operating expenses (752) (667) (399) (353) (344) Operating profit before impairment releases 40 95 37 3 24 Impairment releases 5 3 4 1 4 Operating profit before tax 45 98 41 4 28 Tax credit/(charge) 32 (9) 8 24 2 Profit for the period 77 89 49 28 30 Income (1) Fixed Income 52 105 32 20 41 Currencies 318 327 157 161 169 Capital Markets 397 370 203 194 189 Capital Management Unit & other (2) 41 2 53 (12) (11) Income including shared revenue before OCA 808 804 445 363 388 Transfer pricing arrangements with fellow NatWest Group subsidiaries (3) (18) (45) (8) (10) (17) Income excluding OCA 790 759 437 353 371 Own credit adjustments (OCA) 2 3 (1) 3 (3) Total income 792 762 436 356 368Half year ended 30 June 2026 performance
Quarter ended 30 June 2026 performance
Financial review
Balance sheet profile as at 30 June 2026
NWM Group’s balance sheet profile is summarised below. Commentary refers to the table below as well as the condensed consolidated balance sheet on page 19.
| Assets | Liabilities | ||||||
| 30 June | 31 December | 30 June | 31 December | ||||
| 2026 | 2025 | 2026 | 2025 | ||||
| £bn | £bn | £bn | £bn | ||||
| Cash and balances at central banks | 18.1 | 16.0 | |||||
| Securities | 18.1 | 12.6 | 10.0 | 7.5 | Short positions | ||
| Reverse repos (1) | 22.7 | 27.7 | 27.6 | 28.6 | Repos (2) | ||
| Cash collateral given (3) | 6.0 | 5.6 | 11.8 | 11.8 | Cash collateral received (4) | ||
| Other trading assets | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 | Other trading liabilities | ||
| Total trading assets | 47.2 | 46.2 | 50.5 | 48.8 | Total trading liabilities | ||
| Loans - amortised cost | 28.5 | 24.7 | 19.4 | 15.7 | Deposits - amortised cost | ||
| Settlement balances | 10.1 | 0.6 | 9.6 | 0.9 | Settlement balances | ||
| Amounts due from holding | Amounts due to holding company | ||||||
| company and fellow subsidiaries | 0.5 | 0.3 | 5.9 | 6.1 | and fellow subsidiaries | ||
| Other financial assets | 18.2 | 19.1 | 37.6 | 35.5 | Other financial liabilities | ||
| Other assets | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | Other liabilities | ||
| Funded assets | 123.3 | 107.5 | 123.5 | 107.4 | Liabilities excluding derivatives | ||
| Derivative assets | 63.4 | 60.9 | 56.3 | 54.0 | Derivative liabilities | ||
| Total assets | 186.7 | 168.4 | 179.8 | 161.4 | Total liabilities | ||
| Net derivative assets (5) | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | Net derivative liabilities (5) | ||
| (1) | Comprises bank reverse repos of £4.5 billion (31 December 2025 – £4.6 billion) and customer reverse repos of £18.2 billion (31 December 2025 – £23.1 billion). |
| (2) | Comprises bank repos of £8.6 billion (31 December 2025 – £8.2 billion) and customer repos of £19.0 billion (31 December 2025 – £20.4 billion). |
| (3) | Comprises cash collateral given relating to banks of £3.8 billion (31 December 2025 – £2.6 billion) and customers of £2.2 billion (31 December 2025 – £3.0 billion). |
| (4) | Comprises cash collateral received relating to banks of £4.1 billion (31 December 2025 – £4.1 billion) and customers of £7.7 billion (31 December 2025 – £7.7 billion). |
| (5) | Refer to page 11 for further details. |
Non-IFRS measures
This document contains a number of non-IFRS measures. For details of the basis of preparation and reconciliations, where
applicable, refer to the non-IFRS measures section on page 41.
Risk and capital management
| Page | |
| Market risk | |
| One-day 99% traded internal VaR | 4 |
| Capital, liquidity and funding risk | |
| Capital, RWAs and leverage | 5 |
| Capital resources | 6 |
| Leverage exposure | 7 |
| Liquidity portfolio | 7 |
| Funding sources | 8 |
| Senior notes and subordinated liabilities | 9 |
| Credit risk | |
| Credit risk – Trading activities | 10 |
| Credit risk – Economics | 12 |
| Credit risk – Banking activities | 16 |
Certain disclosures in the Risk and capital management section are within the scope of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC’s) review report and are marked as ‘reviewed’ in the section header.
Market risk (reviewed)
One-day 99% traded internal VaR
The table below shows one-day 99% internal VaR for the trading portfolios of NWM Group, split by exposure type.
Half year ended 30 June 2026 30 June 2025 31 December 2025 Period Period Period Average Maximum Minimum end Average Maximum Minimum end Average Maximum Minimum end £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m Interest rate 2.6 4.3 1.8 2.1 3.6 5.4 2.2 4.1 2.8 4.6 1.8 2.3 Credit spread 3.3 4.0 2.8 3.8 5.3 7.2 4.0 4.6 4.3 5.2 3.1 3.1 Currency 1.5 4.4 0.5 1.3 1.5 4.0 - 0.8 1.1 2.8 0.4 0.5 Equity 0.1 0.2 - - - 0.1 - 0.1 0.1 0.1 - 0.1 Diversification (1) (3.2) (3.3) (3.9) (4.0) (3.4) - - (2.5) Total 4.3 6.1 3.2 3.9 6.5 9.7 4.3 5.6 4.9 6.8 3.4 3.5Risk and capital management
Capital, liquidity and funding risk
Introduction
NWM Group takes a comprehensive approach to the management of capital, liquidity and funding, underpinned by frameworks, risk appetite and policies, to manage and mitigate capital, liquidity and funding risks. The framework ensures the tools and capability are in place to facilitate the management and mitigation of risk ensuring that NWM Group operates within its regulatory requirements and risk appetite.
Capital, RWAs and leverage
Capital resources, RWAs and leverage for NWM Plc are set out below and have been calculated in line with the PRA rulebook, subject to the requirements set out in the UK CRR. Regulatory capital is monitored and reported at legal entity level for large subsidiaries of NatWest Group.
| 30 June | 31 December | |
| 2026 | 2025 | |
| Capital adequacy ratios (1,2) | % | % |
| CET1 | 18.3 | 18.4 |
| Tier 1 | 22.8 | 23.0 |
| Total | 25.8 | 26.0 |
| Total MREL | 44.0 | 45.6 |
| Capital (1,2) | £m | £m |
| CET1 | 4,056 | 3,952 |
| Tier 1 | 5,032 | 4,926 |
| Total | 5,695 | 5,576 |
| Total MREL (3) | 9,738 | 9,787 |
| Risk-weighted assets | ||
| Credit risk | 10,596 | 10,447 |
| Counterparty credit risk | 6,164 | 5,868 |
| Market risk | 3,640 | 3,431 |
| Operational risk | 1,711 | 1,711 |
| Total RWAs | 22,111 | 21,457 |
Leverage
The leverage ratio has been calculated in accordance with the Leverage Ratio (CRR) part of the PRA rulebook.
30 June 31 December 2026 2025 Tier 1 capital (£m) 5,032 4,926 Leverage exposure (£m) (1) 102,541 97,880 Leverage ratio (%) 4.9 5.0Risk and capital management
Capital, liquidity and funding risk continued
Capital resources (reviewed)
NWM Plc’s regulatory capital is assessed against minimum requirements that are set out under the UK CRR to determine the strength of its capital base. The table below shows a reconciliation of shareholders’ equity to regulatory capital.
30 June 31 December 2026 2025 Shareholders’ equity £m £m Shareholders’ equity 6,696 6,880 Other equity instruments (1,192) (1,192) 5,504 5,688 Regulatory adjustments and deductions Own credit 33 36 Defined benefit pension fund adjustment (122) (119) Cash flow hedging reserve 139 97 Prudential valuation adjustments (111) (114) Expected losses less impairments (12) (11) Instruments of financial sector entities where the institution has a significant investment (1,375) (1,625) (1,448) (1,736) CET1 capital 4,056 3,952 Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital Qualifying instruments and related share premium 1,192 1,192 Tier 1 deductions Instruments of financial sector entities where the institution has a significant investment (216) (218) Tier 1 capital 5,032 4,926 Qualifying Tier 2 capital Qualifying instruments and related share premium 1,062 1,048 Tier 2 deductions Instruments of financial sector entities where the institution has a significant investment (408) (407) Other regulatory adjustments 9 9 (399) (398) Tier 2 capital 663 650 Total regulatory capital 5,695 5,576Risk and capital management
Capital, liquidity and funding risk continued
Leverage exposure
The leverage exposure has been calculated in accordance with the Leverage Exposure (CRR) part of the PRA rulebook.
30 June 31 December 2026 2025 Leverage £m £m Cash and balances at central banks 9,272 9,357 Trading assets 24,515 22,087 Derivatives 60,223 57,793 Financial assets 46,458 43,722 Other assets 8,989 3,329 Total assets 149,457 136,288 Derivatives - netting and variation margin (57,087) (54,908) - potential future exposures 17,135 16,778 Securities financing transactions gross up 959 2,759 Other off balance sheet items 9,991 9,267 Regulatory deductions and other adjustments (8,343) (2,643) Exclusion of core UK-group exposures (311) (317) Claims on central banks (9,260) (9,344) Leverage exposure 102,541 97,880
Liquidity portfolio
The liquidity portfolio comprises both high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) managed in the Treasury owned Liquid Asset Buffer (LAB) and other eligible unencumbered HQLA arising in the entity, all of which are under the control of the NatWest Markets Treasurer. The table below shows the composition of the liquidity portfolio with primary liquidity aligned to HQLA on a regulatory LCR basis. Secondary liquidity comprises assets which are eligible as collateral for local central bank liquidity facilities and do not form part of the LCR eligible HQLA. HQLA cover both Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 risks.
| Liquidity value | ||
| 30 June | 31 December | |
| 2026 | 2025 | |
| NatWest Markets Plc | £m | £m |
| Cash and balances at central banks | 9,180 | 9,238 |
| High-quality government/MDB/PSE and GSE bonds (1) | 10,009 | 10,133 |
| Extremely high-quality covered bonds | 11 | - |
| LCR Level 1 eligible assets | 19,200 | 19,371 |
| LCR Level 2 eligible assets (2) | 762 | 783 |
| Primary liquidity (HQLA) | 19,962 | 20,154 |
| Secondary liquidity (3) | - | - |
| Total liquidity value | 19,962 | 20,154 |
| Average LCR (%) | 204 | 198 |
The table below shows the liquidity value of the liquidity portfolio by currency.
GBP USD EUR Other Total Total liquidity portfolio £m £m £m £m £m 30 June 2026 12,992 3,512 2,700 758 19,962 31 December 2025 11,747 3,981 3,642 784 20,154Risk and capital management
Capital, liquidity and funding risk continued
Funding sources (reviewed)
The table below shows NWM Group’s carrying values of the principal funding sources based on contractual maturity.
30 June 2026 31 December 2025 Short-term Long-term Short-term Long-term less than more than less than more than 1 year 1 year Total 1 year 1 year Total £m £m £m £m £m £m Bank deposits 2,570 7,084 9,654 2,140 6,361 8,501 of which: repos (amortised cost) 641 6,225 6,866 611 5,445 6,056 Customer deposits 8,969 765 9,734 6,100 1,061 7,161 of which: repos (amortised cost) 455 756 1,211 150 1,043 1,193 Trading liabilities (1) Repos (2) 26,136 1,490 27,626 26,168 2,410 28,578 Cash collateral received 11,785 - 11,785 11,792 - 11,792 Other bank and customer deposits 600 284 884 454 285 739 Debt securities in issue 15 200 215 28 206 234 38,536 1,974 40,510 38,442 2,901 41,343 Other financial liabilities Customer deposits (designated at fair value) 498 1,951 2,449 836 1,476 2,312 Debt securities in issue Commercial paper and certificates of deposits (CDs) 6,644 894 7,538 4,955 683 5,638 Medium term notes (MTNs) 6,381 20,919 27,300 7,510 19,722 27,232 Subordinated liabilities 17 248 265 17 254 271 13,540 24,012 37,552 13,318 22,135 35,453 Amounts due to holding company and fellow subsidiaries (3) Internal MREL 883 3,160 4,043 759 3,564 4,323 Other bank and customer deposits 649 - 649 589 - 589 Subordinated liabilities - 1,062 1,062 - 1,066 1,066 1,532 4,222 5,754 1,348 4,630 5,978 Total funding 65,147 38,057 103,204 61,348 37,088 98,436 Of which: available in resolution (4) (unreviewed) 5,105 4,885