NatWest Group PLC (NWG) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning and welcome to NatWest Group's H1 2026 results management presentation. Today's presentation will be hosted by CEO Paul Thwaite and CFO Katie Murray. After the presentation, we will take questions. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our results today show how we've created a bank with increasing momentum through our focus on sustainable growth and returns. By delivering growth across all three businesses, improving operating leverage and managing our capital and risk, we have created the most efficient large UK bank with the lowest cost of risk, delivering the strongest capital generation and highest returns. Our ambition for the future is founded on the strengths we've created and the opportunities we see ahead. The UK's next phase of growth will be shaped by a handful of defining trends, so we have built leadership positions in areas that will drive the next decade, such as wealth, AI and infrastructure. Our performance makes clear we have the capability and capacity to grow at scale. So we're seizing the opportunity to maximise our position as a trusted partner for customers and to help stimulate growth across the UK. In February, we set out how we plan to deliver our 2028 targets by pursuing disciplined growth, leveraging simplification and actively managing our capital and risk. Our aim is to grow customer assets and liabilities at an annual rate of more than 4%, to reduce our cost-income ratio to below 45%, and to generate over 200 basis points of capital before distributions, with a return on tangible equity of more than 18%. Our strategy is delivering excellent results as we make good progress against these ambitions, so let me give you the financial headlines. We have deliberately built a scaled business that benefits from str...