NatWest to exit Ireland, tumbles to 2020 loss By Reuters

By Iain Withers and Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) – NatWest will wind down its under-performing Irish arm Ulster Bank as it swung to a full-year loss for 2020 after COVID-19 lockdowns crunched household spending.

The bank will exit the Republic of Ireland following a strategic review, and sell 4 billion euros ($4.84 billion) worth of loans to Allied Irish Banks.

The bank on Friday reported a pre-tax loss of 351 million pounds ($490.52 million) for the year, better than an average of analyst forecasts of a 418 million pound loss. The bank had made a 4.2 billion pound pre-tax profit the prior year.

Despite the loss, the bank announced it would pay out a dividend of 3 pence per share, after the Bank of England gave lenders the green light to resume investor payouts.

The bank pledged to increase shareholder returns in future years by distributing at least 800 million pounds per year from next year up until 2023.

The move to sell Ulster Bank is the latest by NatWest CEO Alison Rose to strip out costs and simplify the lender since taking the helm in late 2019, after cutting back NatWest Markets and axing digital venture Bó just months after its launch.

Ulster Bank has served customers in Ireland for more than 160 years and is the country’s third largest lender with a 20 billion euro loan book and 2,800 staff.

The decision follows a months-long review and is likely to spark a backlash in Ireland, where the government and regulators have expressed concerns over shrinking banking competition.

Reacting to reports of the planned move on Thursday, Ireland’s deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said the exit was a “matter of real concern”.

Overall NatWest impairment charges came in at 3.2 billion pounds for 2020, below the bank’s guidance of a minimum 3.5 billion pounds.

NatWest remains 62% government-owned as a legacy of its state bailout in the 2007-09 financial crisis.

($1 = 0.7156 pounds)

($1 = 0.8271 euros)