NatWest Group plc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM****20-F

(Mark One)

Commission file number:001-10306

NATWEST GROUP plc

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

United Kingdom

(Jurisdiction of incorporation)

250 Bishopsgate**,London,EC2M 4AA,**United Kingdom

(Address of principal executive offices)

Gary Moore**, Chief Governance Officer and Company Secretary,**

Tel:+44 (0) 370 702 0135, Fax: +44 (0) 131 626 3081

PO Box 1000**,Gogarburn,Edinburgh **EH12 1HQ

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

• Not for trading, but only in connection with the registration of American Depositary Shares representing such ordinary shares pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of December 31, 2025, the close of the period covered by the annual report:

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

☐ Yes☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company*.* See definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards † provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☐

†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issues by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

☒ Yes☐ No

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

☐ U.S. GAAP

☒ International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board

☐ Other

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

☐ Item 17☐ Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

☐ Yes ☒ No

SEC Form 20-F cross reference guide

SEC Form 20-F cross reference guide continued

Forward-looking statements and important notices

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

Certain sections in this document contain ‘forward-looking statements’ as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements with respect to NatWest Group’s financial condition, results of operations and business, including its strategic priorities, financial, investment and capital targets, and climate and sustainability-related targets, commitments and ambitions described herein. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about NatWest Group’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as ‘expect’, ‘estimate’, ‘project’, ‘anticipate’, ‘commit’, ‘believe’, ‘should’, ‘intend’, ‘will’, ‘plan’, ‘could’, ‘probability’, ‘risk’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘objective’, ‘may’, ‘endeavour’, ‘outlook’, ‘optimistic’, ‘prospects’ and similar expressions or variations on these expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this document includes forward-looking targets and guidance relating to financial performance measures, such as income growth, operating expense, RoTE, ROE, discretionary capital distribution targets, impairment loss rates, capital generation pre distributions, customer assets and liabilities growth rate, cost: income ratio, balance sheet reduction (including the reduction of RWAs), CET1 ratio (and key drivers of the CET1 ratio including timing, impact and details), Pillar 2 and other regulatory buffer requirements and MREL and non-financial performance measures, such as NatWest Group’s initial area of focus, climate and sustainability-related ambitions, targets and metrics, including in relation to financed emissions and initiatives to transition to a net zero economy, such as our climate and transition finance activities.

Limitations inherent to forward-looking statements

These statements are based on current plans, expectations, estimates, targets and projections, and are subject to significant inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors, both external and relating to NatWest Group’s strategy or operations, which may result in NatWest Group being unable to achieve the current plans, expectations, estimates, targets, projections and other anticipated outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, certain of these disclosures are dependent on choices relying on key model characteristics and assumptions and are subject to various limitations, including assumptions and estimates made by management. By their nature, certain of these disclosures are only estimates and, as a result, actual future results, gains or losses could differ materially from those that have been estimated. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date we make them and we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Important factors that could affect the actual outcome of the forward-looking statements

We caution you that a large number of important factors could adversely affect our results or our ability to implement our strategy, cause us to fail to meet our targets, predictions, expectations and other anticipated outcomes or affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements described in this document. These factors include, but are not limited to, those set forth in the risk factors and the other uncertainties described in NatWest Group plc’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 20-F, and its other filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The principal risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect NatWest Group’s future results, its financial condition and/or prospects and cause them to be materially different from what is forecast or expected, include, but are not limited to: economic and political risk (including in respect of: political and economic risks and uncertainty in the UK and global markets, including as a result of inflation and interest rates, supply chain disruption, protectionist policies, and geopolitical developments); and changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates; business change and execution risk (including in respect of the implementation of NatWest Group’s strategy; future acquisitions and divestments, the competitive environment; and the transfer of its EU corporate portfolio); financial resilience risk (including in respect of: NatWest Group’s ability to meet targets and to make discretionary capital distributions; counterparty and borrower risk; liquidity and funding risks; prudential regulatory requirements for capital; reductions in the credit ratings; model risk; sensitivity to accounting policies, judgments, estimates and assumptions (and the economic, climate, competitive and other forward looking information affecting those judgments, estimates and assumptions); changes in applicable accounting standards; the value or effectiveness of credit protection; the requirements of regulatory stress tests and the adequacy of NatWest Group’s future assessments by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Bank of England; and the application of UK statutory stabilisation or resolution powers); operational and IT resilience risk (including in respect of: operational risks (including reliance on third party suppliers); cyberattacks; the accuracy and effective use of data; artificial intelligence; complex IT systems; attracting, retaining and developing diverse senior management and skilled personnel; NatWest Group’s risk management framework; and reputational risk); legal, regulatory and conduct risk (including in respect of: the impact of substantial regulation and oversight; the outcome of legal, regulatory and governmental actions, investigations and remedial undertakings; and changes in tax legislation or failure to generate future taxable profits); and climate and sustainability-related risks (including in respect of: risks relating to climate change and sustainability-related risks; both the execution and reputational risk relating to NatWest Group’s climate change-related strategy, ambitions, targets and transition plan; climate and sustainability-related data and model risk; increasing levels of climate, environmental, human rights and sustainability-related regulation and oversight; and increasing; climate, environmental and sustainability-related litigation, enforcement proceedings investigations and conduct risk).

Cautionary statement regarding alternative performance measures

NatWest Group prepares its financial statements in accordance with UK-adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This document may contain a number of non-IFRS measures, or alternative performance measures, defined under the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidance, or non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (non-GAAP) financial measures in accordance with the SEC regulations (together, APM). APMs are adjusted for notable and other defined items which management believes are not representative of the underlying performance of the business and which distort period-on-period comparison. APMs provide users of the financial statements with a consistent basis for comparing business performance between financial periods and information on elements of performance that are one-off in nature. Any APMs included in this document, are not measures within the scope of IFRS or GAAP, are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to uncertainties and change and are not a substitute for IFRS or GAAP measures and a reconciliation to the closest IFRS or GAAP measure is presented where appropriate.

The information, statements and opinions contained in this document do not constitute a public offer under any applicable legislation or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or financial instruments or any advice or recommendation with respect to such securities or other financial instruments.

Additional cautionary statement regarding climate and sustainability-related data, metrics and forward-looking statements.

Climate and sustainability-related statements that are not historical facts, including statements about NatWest Group’s beliefs, expectations, climate and sustainability-related ambitions, targets and commitments are forward-looking statements. Words such as ‘ambition’, ‘achieve’, ‘aim’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ’continue’, ‘could’, ‘effort’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘forecast’, ‘goal’, ‘guidance’, ‘intend’, ‘intention’, ‘may’, ‘objective’, ‘plan’, ‘potential’, ‘projection’, ‘predict’, ‘seek’, ‘should’, ‘target’, ‘will’, ‘would’ or similar expressions, or the negative thereof, other variations thereon or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

This report contains climate and sustainability-related forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, NatWest Group’s ambition to be net zero across its financed emissions, assets under management and operational value chain by 2050, aligned with the UK’s legal obligation to be net zero by 2050, NatWest Group’s ambition to at least halve the climate impact of its financing activity by 2030, against a 2019 baseline, supported by portfolio-level activity-based targets and NatWest Group’s target to provide £200 billion of transition and climate finance between 1 July 2025 and the end of 2030, (each a ‘Sustainability related forward-looking statement’).

The Sustainability-related forward-looking statements of this report are based on current plans, information, and data. In preparing these, NatWest Group has made a number of key judgments, estimates, assumptions and projections, and relied on information subject to inherent uncertainties.

Readers are cautioned that a number of factors, both external and those specific to NatWest Group, could cause actual achievements, results, performance or other future events or conditions to differ, in some cases significantly, from those stated, implied and/or reflected in any Sustainability-related forward-looking statement or result in revisions to the reported data, including on financed emissions or the classification of sustainable finance and investments, meaning that data outputs may not be reconcilable or comparable year on year due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors (including without limitation those referred to below).

Therefore, no assurance can be given by or on behalf of NatWest Group as to the likelihood of the achievement or reasonableness of any climate or sustainability-related projections, estimates, forecasts, ambitions, targets, commitments or other forward-looking statements contained herein. Therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on these Sustainability-related forward-looking statements. The most important of these uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in climate and sustainability-related forward-looking statements are summarised in the ‘Risk Factors’ included on pages 269 to 289 of this report (with special regard to the risk factors in relation to ‘Climate and sustainability-related risks’ that describe several particular uncertainties, climate and sustainability-related risks to which NatWest Group is exposed and which may be amended from time to time).

Other uncertainties and factors include, without limitation:

The Sustainability-related forward-looking statements contained in this report only speak as of the date they were published. Except to the extent legally required, we expressly disclaim any obligations or undertaking to update or revise any Sustainability-related forward-looking statements in this report, whether to reflect any change in our expectations regarding those Sustainability-related forward-looking statements, any change, events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, or otherwise. However, NatWest Group reserves the right to update or revise any statement in this report at our discretion.

NatWest Group may also announce other climate and sustainability-related ambitions, targets and commitments, and may withdraw, retire, amend, replace or supersede existing ones from time to time, whether or not they have been achieved, where it considers this to be appropriate having regard to its strategic objectives, or where required or appropriate to do so by applicable law, regulation or supervisory expectations.

Written and/or oral Sustainability-related forward-looking statements may also be made in our periodic reports to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, summary financial statements to shareholders, proxy statements, offering circulars and prospectuses, press releases and other written materials, and in oral statements (including during management presentations) made by NatWest Group’s directors, officers or employees to third parties, including financial analysts.

Cautionary statements in relation to the climate and sustainability-related disclosures in this report

Caution on climate and sustainability-related metrics.

The processes we have adopted to define, collect and report data on our climate and sustainability-related performance, as well as the associated metrics and disclosures in this document, are not subject to the same formal processes adopted for financial reporting in accordance with established reporting standards. They involve a higher degree of judgement, assumptions and estimates, including in relation to the classification of climate and sustainability-related (including social, sustainability, sustainability-linked, green, climate and transition) funding, financing and facilitation activities, than is required for our reporting of historical financial information prepared in accordance with established reporting standards. As a result, climate and sustainability-related disclosures may be amended, updated or restated over time. However, NatWest Group does not undertake to restate prior disclosures except where required by applicable law or regulation, even if subsequently available data or methodologies differ from those used at the time of the original disclosure.

Caution about sustainability-related funding, financing and facilitation

Sustainability-related (including social, sustainability, sustainability-linked, green, climate, transition) funding, financing and facilitation currently represents only a relatively small proportion of NatWest Group’s overall funding, financing and facilitation activities. Accordingly, disclosures relating to sustainability-related funding, financing and facilitation should be read in the context of NatWest Group’s broader balance sheet, risk profile and funding, financing and facilitation activities, and should not be interpreted as indicative of NatWest Group’s overall funding, financing or facilitation strategy.

Caution about sustainability-related case studies

The sustainability-related (including climate-related) case studies included in this report are intended for illustrative purposes only and are intended to demonstrate potential outcomes. They should not be construed as definitive evidence. NatWest Group has not independently verified the information contained in the sustainability-related case studies and makes no representations or warranties as to their accuracy or reliability. The content of the sustainability-related case studies, including any opinions, conclusions and views expressed, is the sole responsibility of the individuals or organisations that provided them and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of NatWest Group. Accordingly, readers should exercise caution, independently assess the relevance and applicability of the sustainability-related case studies, and seek independent verification before relying on them.

Caution about references to websites, reports and other materials.

The climate and sustainability-related disclosures in this report contain references to websites, reports and other materials prepared by third parties that are not affiliated with NatWest Group. Reference to such websites, reports and other materials is made for information purposes only and information available on such websites, in such reports and other materials is not incorporated by reference into this report. Readers should exercise caution and conduct their own due diligence when relying on information from these third-party sources. To the extent permitted by law, NatWest Group makes no representation, warranty or assurance of any kind, express or implied, or takes no responsibility or liability as to the fairness, accuracy, reliability, reasonableness, correctness or completeness with respect to any such websites, reports and materials.

Caution about the use of graphics.

The climate and sustainability-related disclosures in this report contain a number of graphics, infographics and text boxes which aim to give a high-level overview of certain elements of this report and improve accessibility for readers. These elements are all illustrative and should be read with caution and within the context of this report as a whole and should not be relied upon in isolation.

Presentation of information

In the Annual Report on Form 20-F, unless specified otherwise, ‘parent company’ refers to NatWest Group plc, and ‘NatWest Group’, ‘Group’ or ‘we’ refers to NatWest Group plc and its subsidiaries. The term ‘NWH Group’ refers to NatWest Holdings Limited (‘NWH Limited’) and its subsidiary and associated undertakings. The term ‘NWM Group’ refers to NatWest Markets Plc (‘NWM Plc’) and its subsidiary and associated undertakings. The term 'RBSH N.V.' refers to RBS Holdings N.V. The term ‘NWM N.V.’ refers to NatWest Markets N.V. The term ‘NWM N.V. Group’ refers to NatWest Markets N.V. and its subsidiary and associated undertakings The term ‘NWMSI’ refers to NatWest Markets Securities, Inc. The term ‘RBS plc’ refers to The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The term ‘NWB Plc’ refers to National Westminster Bank Plc. The term ‘RBSI Ltd’ refers to The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited. Effective from Q2 2025, the reportable segment Private Banking was renamed Private Banking & Wealth Management. This does not change the financial results of Private Banking & Wealth Management or the consolidated financial results of NatWest Group.

NatWest Group publishes its financial statements in pounds sterling (‘£’ or ‘sterling’). The abbreviations ‘£m’ and ‘£bn’ represent millions and thousands of millions of pounds sterling (‘GBP’), respectively, and references to ‘pence’ represent pence where amounts are denominated in pounds sterling. Reference to ‘dollars’ or ‘$’ are to United States of America (‘US’) dollars. The abbreviations ‘$m’ and ‘$bn’ represent millions and thousands of millions of dollars, respectively. The abbreviation ‘€’ represents the ‘euro’, and the abbreviations ‘€m’ and ‘€bn’ represent millions and thousands of millions of euros, respectively.

To aid readability, this document retains references to EU legislative and regulatory provisions in effect in the UK before 1 January 2021 that have now been implemented in UK domestic law. These references should be read and construed as including references to the applicable UK implementation measures with effect from 1 January 2021.

Any information contained on websites linked or reports referenced in this Annual Report on Form 20-F is for information only and will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein.

Non-IFRS financial information

NatWest Group prepares its financial statements in accordance with UK-adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS), and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). This document contains a number of non-IFRS measures, or alternative performance measures, defined under the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidance, or non-GAAP financial measures in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. These measures are adjusted for notable and other defined items which management believes are not representative of the underlying performance of the business and which distort period-on-period comparison.

The non-IFRS measures provide users of the financial statements with a consistent basis for comparing business performance between financial periods and information on elements of performance that are one-off in nature. The non-IFRS measures also include the basis of calculation for metrics that are used throughout the banking industry.

These non-IFRS measures are not a substitute for IFRS measures and a reconciliation to the closest IFRS measure is presented where appropriate. For details of the basis of preparation and reconciliation where appropriate refer to appendix ‘Non-IFRS financial measures’ on page 250.

Summary risk factors

Principal risks and uncertainties

Set out below is a summary of the principal risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect NatWest Group’s future results, its financial condition and prospects and cause them to be materially different from what is forecast or expected, and directly or indirectly impact the value of its securities in issue. This summary should not be regarded as a complete and comprehensive statement of all potential risks and uncertainties; a fuller description of these and other risk factors is included on pages 269 to 289 of this report on Form 20-F and should be read together with NatWest Group’s other public disclosures. Any of the risks identified may have a material adverse effect on NatWest Group’s business, operations, financial condition or prospects.

Economic and political risk

Business change and execution risk

Financial resilience risk

Summary risk factors continued

Principal risks and uncertainties continued

Operational and IT resilience risk

Legal and regulatory risk

Climate and sustainability-related risks

Group Chief financial officer’s review

‘We delivered a strong performance in 2025. Total income was £16.6 billion with total income excluding notable items of £16.4 billion exceeding our strengthened Q3 2025 guidance. We remained focused on cost discipline, achieving our cost target and with further progress made on simplification. The balance sheet has continued to grow over 2025 and our CET1 ratio for 2025 was within our guided range at 14.0%.’

Strong 2025 financial performance across growth and simplification

We are growing in ways that build and strengthen customer relationships and improve the sustainability of our earnings.

Total income of £16.6 billion increased by 13.2% compared with 2024. Total income excluding notable items was £1.8 billion higher than 2024 reflecting deposit margin expansion, as a result of higher customer balances and strong hedge income, increased customer lending, strong AUMA growth and an increase in FX trading revenue. Full year 2025 net interest margin (NIM) increased by 21 basis points in the year to 2.34%. We would expect total structural hedge income to increase by around £1.5 billion in 2026 compared with 2025 and by a further £1 billion in 2027.(1)

We continued to support our customers as net loans to customers of £418.9 billion increased by £18.6 billion in the year and net loans to customers excluding central items increased by £20.7 billion in the year. Retail Banking mortgage balances increased by £5.1 billion and Commercial & Institutional balances were up by £12.3 billion.

Customer deposits of £443.0 billion increased by £9.5 billion in the year. Customer deposits excluding central items increased £10.4 billion during 2025 to £441.7 billion primarily reflecting £7.8 billion growth in Retail Banking, across Savings and Current accounts, and Commercial & Institutional increased by £2.3 billion largely due to higher balances within Corporate & Institutions and Business Banking. Total business term balances increased to 17% in Q4 2025 compared to 16% of the book at the end of 2024.

AUMA of £58.5 billion increased by £9.6 billion in 2025, reflecting AUM net flows of £3.1 billion, AUA net flows of £0.9 billion, Cushon net flows of £0.6 billion and positive market movements of £5.0 billion.

We continued to make good progress on becoming a simpler, more agile and technology driven bank by delivering efficiencies from our investment programmes, digitising more to deliver faster, simpler, and safer customer journeys and accelerating AI and data transformation.

Total operating expenses were £113 million higher than 2024. Other operating expenses were £241 million, or 3.1%, higher and in line with our guidance. In the year we recognised higher costs of transformation, increased reward through pay and bonus while we also combatted other inflationary pressures. Partially offsetting this we have continued to drive underlying cost savings (delivered through branch transformation and digitisation), further cost reductions as a result of the phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland, lower restructuring costs and reduced Bank levies.

We continue to proactively manage risk

A net impairment charge of £671 million, or 16 basis points of gross customer loans, included a charge on the acquisition of balances from Sainsbury’s Bank, higher Stage 3 charges and lower good book releases than the prior year.

Compared with 2024, our ECL provision increased £0.2 billion to £3.6 billion and our ECL coverage ratio remained stable at 0.83%. We retain post model adjustments of £296 million and remain comfortable with the strong credit performance of our diversified prime loan book.

Group Chief financial officer’s review continued

Active balance sheet management supporting robust liquidity levels

RWAs increased by £10.1 billion during 2025 to £193.3 billion principally reflecting franchise lending growth of £10.9 billion, operational risk of £3.8 billion, including an acceleration of c.£1.6 billion from Q1 2026 to align with market practice, £1.3 billion in relation to the balances acquired from Sainsbury’s Bank and an increase of £7.3 billion relating to CRD IV models partially offset by a further £10.9 billion benefit from RWA management actions as we continued to actively manage our balance sheet and create capacity for lending growth.

The average LCR of 147%, representing £50.5 billion headroom above 100% minimum requirement, decreased by 4 percentage points during the year, primarily driven by increased lending partially offset by deposit growth. Our primary liquidity decreased by £3.8 billion to £157.3 billion, of which £81.1 billion, or 52% was cash and balances at central banks.

Shareholder return supported strong capital generation

A final dividend of 23.0 pence per share is proposed, bringing the total for the year to 32.5 pence, up 51% compared to 2024, and we intend to commence a share buyback programme of £750 million in the first half of 2026, taking total distributions deducted from capital in the year to £4.1 billion.

The CET1 ratio of 14.0% increased c.40 basis points in 2025 and included capital generation pre-distributions of 252 basis points, comprising c.300 basis points of profit and c.40 basis points of other capital movements partially offset by the increase in RWAs, c.90 basis points.

Katie Murray

Group Chief Financial Officer

Financial summary

This section includes a discussion on our operating results for the year ended 31 December 2025, including a comparative discussion on our operating results for the year ended 31 December 2024. For a discussion on our operating results for the year ended 31 December 2024, including a comparative discussion on our operating results for the year ended 31 December 2023, refer to the sections “CFO Review", "Financial Summary" and "Segment Performance" on pages 6 to 21 in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-10306) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2025.

nm = not meaningful, na = not applicable

nm = not meaningful

A tax charge of £1,874 million for the year ended 31 December 2025 arises rather than the expected charge of £1,927 million based on the UK corporation tax rate of 25%. The lower tax charge primarily reflects tax credits for AT1 dividends and the re-recognition of previously impaired deferred tax assets on brought forward tax losses in the UK and the Netherlands. These have been partially offset by the UK banking surcharge and various other non-tax deductible expenses. Refer to Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements for further details.

Compared with 2024, our ECL provision increased £0.2 billion to £3.6 billion and our ECL coverage ratio remained stable at 0.83%. We retain post model adjustments of £296 million and remain comfortable with the strong credit performance of our diversified prime loan book.

A net impairment charge of £671 million, or 16 basis points of gross customer loans, included an £81 million charge on the acquisition of balances from Sainsbury’s Bank, higher Stage 3 charges and lower good book releases than the prior year.

Profit for the year

nm = not meaningful

Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of £5,479 million was £960 million, or 21.2%, higher than 2024 primarily due to higher income, driven by deposit margin expansion, customer lending and AUMA growth, partially offset with higher costs largely attributable to inflationary pressures and integration costs alongside a higher impairment charge and tax charge.

Summary consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2025

Summary consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2025 continued

Segment performance

nm = not meaningful, na = not applicable.

For the notes to this table, refer to the following page.

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Retail Banking

Retail Banking continued

In 2025, Retail Banking delivered an operating profit of £3.1 billion and a return on equity of 24.7%, with positive income and net interest margin momentum. We support 19 million customers, including 2.4 million youth customers, along with 529,000 customers within our Premier segment where we have a NPS of 44. We helped more customers achieve their home ownership goals with around 30% of 2025 gross mortgage lending supporting first-time buyers and around £300 million of lending through our Family-Backed Mortgage proposition. We continue to simplify the business and improve customer and colleague experiences. New AI capabilities enabled quicker responses to customer complaints, saving around 90,000 hours per annum through automated summarisation and AI-generated complaint responses.

Retail Banking provided £2.6 billion of climate and transition finance(2) in 2025 from lending on properties with an EPC rating of A or B.

Private Banking & Wealth Management

Private Banking & Wealth Management continued

In 2025, Private Banking & Wealth Management delivered an operating profit of £394 million and return on equity of 21.7%. As part of our strategy to deepen focus on high net worth and ultra-high net worth segments, we refreshed our visual identity and enhanced our investment insight, including a new Coutts website which delivers a faster and more responsive experience. AI tooling has reduced call summarisation time by more than 70% and we have continued to see strong customer engagement across our propositions, resulting in an increase in CAL of 9.7% in the year with growth in deposits, lending and AUMA.

Private Banking & Wealth Management provided £0.2 billion of climate and transition finance(3) in 2025, principally in relation to mortgages on residential properties with an EPC rating of A or B and wholesale transactions.

Commercial & Institutional

Commercial & Institutional continued

During 2025, Commercial & Institutional continued to support customers with an increase in lending of 8.7% and delivered a strong performance in income and operating profit supporting a return on equity of 19.1%, an increase from 17.2% in 2024. We worked with our customers to unlock growth for key structural and policy priorities in the UK, particularly social housing and infrastructure investment. In 2025, we committed over £4.6 billion of lending into the UK social housing sector, surpassing our upgraded target of £7.5 billion by the end of 2026, with total commitments of £8.7 billion. We prioritised the use of generative AI through AI-driven transcription and summarisation of complaints and complex business banking calls, increasing our relationship managers’ capacity to focus on personalised AI-guided interactions.

Commercial & Institutional provided £16.2 billion of climate and transition finance(2) in 2025 to support customers investing in the transition to net zero.

Central items & other

Summary financial statements

Summary consolidated income statement

For the year ended 31 December 2025

Summary financial statements continued

Summary consolidated balance sheet

As at 31 December 2025

NatWest Group’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with UK adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS), and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

Competition

NatWest Group’s ability to attract and manage funding remains a critical competitive advantage. Other key competitive factors include cost management, growing digital sales focus, branch network re-shaping, and product simplification. Cost management remains a key focus, as banks seek to simplify their organisational and IT architectures while at the same time investing to ensure that they can meet customers’ evolving channel preferences. Customers have increasingly focused on the use of internet and mobile as sales and service channels for certain types of products. Therefore, competitive position and performance increasingly depends on the possession of user-friendly, diverse and efficient online solutions.

Retail Banking

In the retail banking business, NatWest Group competes with a range of providers including UK banks and building societies, major retailers and life assurance companies, as well as the UK subsidiaries of major international banks. In the mortgage market, NatWest Group competes with UK banks, building societies and specialist lenders. Increasingly, the ambitions of non-traditional players in the UK market are gaining credibility, with new entrants active and seeking to build their platforms either through organic growth or in some cases by acquiring businesses made available through the restructuring of incumbents.

Entrants with new business models such as peer-to-peer lending platforms, while currently small, continue to grow rapidly and are emerging as significant competitors. Such competitors often target specific elements of the value chain, providing specialised services to particular customer segments.

In the UK credit card market, large retailers and specialist card issuers are active in addition to the UK banks. In addition to physical distribution channels, providers compete through direct marketing activity and digital channels.

NatWest Group distributes life assurance products to banking customers in competition with independent advisors and life assurance companies.

Private Banking & Wealth Management

In the Private Banking & Wealth Management business, NatWest Group serves UK connected high-net-worth individuals and their business interests. The bank competes with UK private banks, international private banks and wealth managers. Competition remains strong as banks maintain their focus on competing for affluent and high net worth customers, supporting customers in need of financial advice. Investment in digital and M&A remain key themes with fee pressure ongoing, in response to Consumer Duty and market competition.

Commercial & Institutional

Commercial & Institutional consists of customer businesses reported under Business Banking, Commercial Mid-market and Corporate & Institutions to support our customers across the full non-personal customer lifecycle, both domestically and internationally, principally customers that trade with and from the UK. Our markets offering provides access to financial markets for NatWest Group customers, with financing and risk management expertise, while our international offering provides full-service banking operations in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Luxembourg.

In the business banking market, the bank competes with other UK banks, specialist finance providers and new entrants, including fin-techs and non-bank challengers. The Commercial Mid-market segment primarily competes with UK Banks and includes an asset finance and invoice finance offering which competes with banks and specialist finance providers, both captive and non-captive. Competition for corporate and institutional customers in the UK is from UK banks, from specialised global investment banks and from large foreign universal banks that offer combined investment and commercial banking capabilities.

Our Corporate & Institutions business also competes with international banks which offer offshore and domestic banking services in the Channel Islands, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man as well as depositary services in UK and Luxembourg. The business also provides financing and risk solutions to large corporates in the UK, Western Europe and the United States. Here we compete with large domestic banks, major international banks and investment banks that offer risk management, trading solutions and debt financing to financial institutions and corporate customers.

Competitors are moving faster, innovating, expanding and increasingly focusing on engaging customers in ways that set new benchmarks. This has intensified competition among banking and financial services providers to capture more growth opportunities and attract and retain existing customers.