Britain’s government has further wound down its stake in NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) ahead of plans to fully return the lender to private hands.
Some 1.09% of the bank’s shares were offloaded by the Treasury through the latest sale, according to a filing on Tuesday.
This took the government’s stake from 9.99% to 8.90%, after NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite signalled last month that the bank could be fully privatised once more by June.
The government’s stake had sat at almost 84% following a bailout at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Steady sales have coincided with a jump in NatWest’s share price in recent months to a peak of 415p in December.
However, this remained off the 502p paid by the government, leaving taxpayers potentially facing a £20 billion loss once the stake is fully sold off, according to The Sunday Times.
“We are pleased with the sustained momentum in reducing HM Treasury’s stake in NatWest Group,” the bank said on Tuesday.
“Returning the bank to full private ownership is a shared ambition and one that is in the interest of all our stakeholders.”