RBS hails new era as NatWest
ROYAL Bank of Scotland will change its name to NatWest Group plc and shrink its investment bank as it signalled a “new era” to further distance itself from its near-collapse during the financial crisis.
The bank, still 62 per cent owned by the taxpayer following its £45billion bailout over a decade ago, delivered its third straight year of being in the black, growing annual operating profit by 26 per cent to £4.23billion.
NatWest and RBS branches will be unchanged and the new corporate identity, reflecting the fact 80 per cent of its customer base is NatWest, will not result in job losses. The registered office will remain in Edinburgh.
Chairman Sir Howard Davies said: “The bank has evolved from the financial crisis and the bailout. We have focused on the NatWest brand. We have exited a lot of the international businesses which were not profitable. That was branded RBS and that’s gone.
“It really makes no sense for us to continue to be called RBS. It was designed for a global group of brands, which we no longer are.”
A refreshed strategy under new chief executive Alison Rose includes a goal to at least halve the climate impact of its financing by 2030, remove barriers to aspiring entrepreneurs with much support going outside London and the South-east to female and minority ethnic-led businesses, and getting all of its frontline staff professionally qualified and accredited within 12 months of starting their role.
Rose also announced cost cuts of £250million. It will reduce the size of its NatWest Markets investment banking business by about a half. She declined to comment on potential job losses.
The 51-year-old said: “We are still too complicated for our customers. Much of the potential value in this bank is locked in business lines and models that are too complex and generating too little return.”
She said yesterday began a “new era” for the bank. Rose added: “The nature of work is changing before our eyes. It is important we get ahead of these structural long-term shifts to ensure we stay relevant to our customers.”
RBS shares fell 15½p to 213p.