The private banking arm of NatWest Group reported a broadly stronger set of financial figures for the three months to the end of September.

The private banking arm of UK-listed NatWest Group, covering the Coutts brand, late last week reported a £94 million ($129.6 million) operating profit for the third quarter of 2021, rising from £57 million a year earlier and £82 million in the previous quarter.

Assets under management and administration rose by 18 per cent from a year earlier to £35.7 billion; assets under management reached £30.5, up from £27 billion. 

Total costs stood at £116 million in Q3, up from £112 million a year before but down from £128 million in the three months to the end of June. As shown with other banks, Coutts swung from an impairment loss a year ago because of the pandemic (-£18 million) to a release of £15 million in the latest quarter. 

The cost/income ratio stood at 59.5 per cent in Q3 2021, down from 59.9 per cent a year before. 

During the first nine months of the year Coutts brought about 1,300 new customers on board, a rise of approximately 10 per cent compared with the same period last year.

NatWest Group completed the sale of Adam & Company's £1.8 billion investment management business to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management on 1 October for £54 million, which included the Adam & Company brand and the FCA regulated Adam & Company Investment Management Ltd legal entity which had net assets of £2 million. The final net gain on sale will be recorded as a notable item in the Q4 2021 results, NatWest said. 

“We continue to deliver against our strategic priority of first-class personal service, digitally enabled. As a result, Coutts Private Banking financial results for Q3 again reveal strong volume growth across all aspects of our business including AuM/A of £1 billion in the quarter,” Peter Flavel, CEO Coutts, said. 

“Additionally, lending grew by £400 million and deposits by £1 billion. We also saw a return on equity of 18.1 per cent and are very proud that our Coutts clients remain our biggest advocates with record-high client net promoter score levels and over 1,300 new Coutts clients onboarded since the start of the year,” he said.