NatWest buys Metro Bank’s £2.4 billion mortgage portfolio

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The Bank will acquire the portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages, expecting to gain around 10,000 customer accounts who will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank.

Following this announcement, and their Q2 results announcement, NatWest shares went up by 8%.

The acquisition gives Metro Bank a boost, following a £600m refinancing agreement last year, which included discussions of selling its mortgage book.

Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest Group said, “This transaction is a further opportunity to accelerate the growth of our Retail mortgage book within our existing risk appetite, with attractive returns. It is in line with our strategic priorities and builds on our recent acquisition from Sainsbury’s Bank.”

Their results announcement also revealed the £24m the bank was forced to spend on cancelled “Tell Sid” advertising campaign featuring Sir Trevor McDonald. The obligation to fund this campaign links back to the 2008 bailout. Despite the adverts already being filmed, that campaign was cancelled following the announcement of a general election.