NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) has raised its forecasts for the year after posting another quarter of rising income and profit, helped by steady lending and firm customer activity across its businesses.
The bank now expects to earn around £16.3 billion in income for 2025, excluding one-off items, and to achieve a return on tangible equity, a measure of how efficiently it turns capital into profit, of more than 18%.
Both figures are higher than previously guided, reflecting what the lender described as “consistent delivery and capital generation”.
Chief executive Paul Thwaite said: “NatWest Group delivered another strong performance in the third quarter of 2025, underpinned by healthy levels of customer activity and the continued support we provide to them.
"This is driving positive momentum across our three businesses, with continued lending growth and deposits remaining stable.”
He added: “As a result of our consistent delivery and capital generation, we have upgraded our income and returns guidance for 2025 and are well placed to support our customers, invest for the future and deliver returns to our shareholders.”
For the three months to the end of September, total income excluding notable items rose £200 million to £4.2 billion. That helped lift profit attributable to shareholders to £1.6 billion, up from £1.2 billion a year ago, giving a return on tangible equity of 22.3%.
Net lending to customers increased by £4.4 billion during the quarter, while deposits slipped slightly by £1.1 billion, leaving the bank’s loan to deposit ratio, which measures how much of its deposits are lent out, at 88%.
Liquidity remained strong, with an average coverage ratio of 148%, comfortably above regulatory requirements.
NatWest also reported a sharp rise in assets under management, up 8.1% to £56 billion, driven by strong inflows into its investment and wealth businesses.
The lender has been working to simplify its operations and cut costs, part of a long-term push to become a more digital bank. Its cost-to-income ratio, which compares operating expenses with total income, improved to 47.8% from 52.8% a year ago.
Active management of its balance sheet added a £2.2 billion benefit through risk-weighted asset adjustments, helping strengthen capital levels.
Its core equity tier one ratio, a key measure of financial resilience, rose to 14.2%, up 0.6 percentage points since June.
Thwaite said the bank’s focus on efficiency and investment was creating “a much simpler bank, with tight control of costs supporting our digital transformation”.
NatWest will set out its 2026 guidance and new 2028 targets when it reports full-year results in February.