LONDON – On Monday, Britain’s new finance minister Rachel Reeves said she had scrapped the previous government’s plan to sell shares in Natwest Group (NYSE: NWG) to the general public as it would be too costly for the taxpayer.
Reeves said the government still intends to fully exit its shareholding by 2025-26, but noted that a retail share offer would require it to provide public discounts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
“It would therefore not represent value for money, and it will not go ahead,” Reeves said.
Natwest (NYSE: NWG) said this month that the government’s stake fell below 20%, moving the bank closer to full private ownership after its state bailout in the 2008 financial crisis.
The previous Conservative government had mooted a public share sale to speed up the process before it lost in the July general election to the left-leaning Labour Party.
NatWest last week raised its performance targets for 2024 despite reporting a fall in first-half profit, thanks to its upbeat assessment of the economy and customer activity.
(Source: Reuters)
