The U.K. government has sold roughly 400 million pounds ($540 million) worth of shares in NatWest Group Plc in the past month and a half in a further reduction of its stake in the bank.
The Treasury now owns a 52.96% stake in the lender formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, according to a filing Monday. That’s a percentage point less than its holding as at Sept. 20, according to the statement.
The government said in July it would carry out open market sales in NatWest for a year from Aug. 12. No more than 15% of the lender’s aggregate total trading volume will be sold over the duration of the plan.
The Treasury remains NatWest’s biggest shareholder more than a decade after RBS’s 45.5 billion-pound bailout. It will likely take a hefty loss on the selldown with the share price hovering around 220 pence — the government has previously indicated that its break-even price on the sums injected into the bank is about 400 pence.
– Bloomberg