Natwest Markets suffers £121m loss following ‘challenging’ conditions

A UK investment bank has today announced that it saw a loss of £121m for 2019.

NatWest Markets, which is headquartered in London and is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, had seen a loss of £1,244m for the previous year.

Income for the company was down more than £1m to £719m in 2019, compared with £858m in 2018.

The bank said that this reflected lower core income in challenging market conditions, and elevated hedging costs caused by reduced liquidity and wider bid-offer spreads.

CEO of NatWest Markets, Robert Begbie, commented: “2019 was a challenging year for the NatWest Markets group, navigating volatile markets, political uncertainty and regulatory change.

“The financial performance of the business was disappointing, largely as a result of the poor third quarter reflecting lower trading income.

“Despite this, maintaining customer relationships has been a priority for the business and there were a number of significant achievements and industry firsts.

“The RBS group has announced that NatWest Markets will be refocused to support a more integrated corporate and institutional customer offering. This will mean a significant transformation for NatWest Markets.

“We have an important role in delivering the RBS Group’s future markets business, connecting its customers with international capital markets and helping them to manage their financing and risk management needs.

“We will become a purpose-led organisation committed to supporting a thriving economy.”

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