By LONDON, Feb 19 Reuters NatWest swung to a fullyear loss for 2020 after COVID19 lockdowns crunched household spending, but resumed investor payouts as bad loan provisions came in below expectations for the year.
The bank also said it will exit the Republic of Ireland following a strategic review of its Ulster Bank unit there, and sell 4 billion euros 4.84 billion worth of loans to Allied Irish Banks.
The bank on Friday reported a pretax 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 pretax profit the prior year.
Impairment charges came in at 3.2 billion pounds for 2020, below the banks guidance of a minimum 3.5 billion pounds.
Despite the loss, the bank announced it would pay out a dividend of 3 pence per share, slightly ahead of an analyst forecast of 2.7 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.
NatWest remains 62 governmentowned as a legacy of its state bailout in the 200709 financial crisis.
1 0.7156 pounds
1 0.8271 euros
Reporting by Iain Withers and Lawrence White Editing by Rachel Armstrong
Source Reuters
