NatWest on 17 February posted a rise in pretax profit for the fourth quarter of 2022, which came in slightly ahead of market views, and said it intends to start a share buyback program of up to £800m in the first half of 2023.

The UK bank posted a pretax profit of £1.43bn for the three months to 31 December, compared with £543m for the fourth quarter of 2021, against the £1.40bn expected in a company-compiled consensus.