SHARES in NatWest sank by as much as 5 per cent yesterday as jittery investors were spooked by a fall in customer deposits.
The bank, which is still 48.5 per cent owned by the taxpayer, revealed customers withdrew more than £11billion in this year’s first quarter.
Last month’s turmoil, which hit SVB and Credit Suisse, has put investors on red alert for any signs of customers pulling out cash.
But chief executive Alison Rose said the fall was down to people using savings to pay debts and tax bills ahead of the April deadline, saying:
“The market volatility didn’t really affect our deposits.”
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And higher UK interest rates saw Natwest’s first quarter pre-tax profits jump 50 per cent to £1.9billion.
Analysts at RBC Brewin Dolphin called the results “reassuringly dull”, though shareholders had hoped to see predictions for the rest of 2023.
Grimes and punishment
SINGER Grimes, ex-girlfriend of Elon Musk, has clarified her stance on AI-generated songs using her voice — promising legal action for any “toxic lyrics”.
Numis buy-up
DEUTSCHE BANK has begun a £410million takeover of Numis in a potential London market shake-up.
Numis advises almost a fifth of UK-listed companies.
Its profits slumped 70 per cent last year as dealmaking dried up.
The surprise tie-up is thought to indicate confidence in a City revival.
Bust firms up
THE number of firms going bust is up by almost a fifth, with 5,747 collapsing in the year’s first quarter.
Insolvencies are now at their highest level since 2009.
Analysis by PWC found 98 per cent of liquidations and 70 per cent of administrations were from firms with less than £1million of turnover.
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