(Bloomberg) — NatWest Group Plc missed estimates in the third quarter as it took bigger than expected charges for souring loans and warned of further gloom to come.
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The UK’s biggest corporate lender reported operating profit before tax of £1.086 billion ($1.26 billion) on Friday, below analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
“Clearly the economic outlook has worsened,” Alison Rose, chief executive officer, told Bloomberg Television’s Dani Burger. “We’re not seeing delinquencies, we’re not seeing customers going into default but the outlook is more challenging so we’re weighting more to the downside.”
Provisions for bad loans were £247 million, compared with consensus estimates of £163.4 million, marking a return to caution about borrowers’ prospects. To reflect the economic gloom, NatWest tweaked its outlook for next year, saying that income will be higher but “we no longer expect…
