NatWest Group PLC (LON:NWG) confirmed the UK banking sector is in rude health as it followed Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) by upgrading its outlook.
It did so on the back of a 26% increase in third-quarter profit, driven by expanded lending and stable profit margins despite declining central bank rates.
For the July-September period, the high street lender reported a pretax profit of £1.7 billion, an increase from £1.3 billion the previous year and surpassing analyst predictions of £1.5 billion.
The bank adjusted its forecast for return on tangible equity to over 15% for this year, up from an earlier estimate of 14%.
NatWest’s quarterly results outperformed those of its major competitor, Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), which had also reported slightly better-than-expected third-quarter earnings earlier in the week.
And while Barclays enjoyed a stellar run on Thursday post-results, its performance was supercharged by the success of its investment banking arm.
