(Refurbished, added stock context in paragraph 2, background in paragraphs 6-10)
Sinead Cruise and Lawrence White
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – The chairman of Natwest Group said on Wednesday that the impending withdrawal from state ownership represents a “turning point” for the bank and plans to focus on growth after its share price rose 66% last year.
NATWEST plans to return to private ownership in the coming weeks 17 years after its £45 billion ($59.85 billion) National Rescue Company ($59.85 billion) rescue. Despite recent gains, its 473p share price remains shy than the 502p per share bailout price, which puts the government in billions of pounds of losses.
Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite said: “We have addressed past issues and have taken on size and presence in communities across the country to leverage our balance sheet by lending to clients and driving economic growth.”
He thanked UK taxpayers and government for keeping lenders floating during the 2008/9 financial crisis.
“We are still very grateful for the intervention and support of the government and UK taxpayers, which has protected millions of savers, homeowners and businesses during a global crisis,” he said.
The UK sold its last remaining shares in May 2017 in the Chisual Cansualty Lloyds Banking Group, a UK rival lender and fellow casualties, earning about £900 million after rescuing more than £20 billion.
The bank’s annual shareholder meeting was held at Gogarburn headquarters in western Edinburgh, the building opened in 2005 for a £250 million and later became a symbol of reckless expansion under former CEO Fred Goodwin.
Under Goodwin’s management, the bank then traded through a series of acquisitions, and by 2008 its balance sheet had exceeded £2 trillion, more than double the UK’s economic output at the time.
CEO Paul Thwaite said lenders are now focusing on growing their core domestic operations and supporting the Labor government’s growth agenda.
($1 = 0.7519 lbs) (Reported by Sinead Cruise and Lawrence White; Edited by Jan Harvey)
