Hunt eyes Budget to fire up NatWest share sell-off as broker warns stock will need a big price discount

Jeremy Hunt is expected to confirm plans for a NatWest share sale in next week’s Budget – as a leading broker said a big price discount would be key to its success.

The Chancellor said in November he was considering a public retail offer as the Treasury aims to sell more of its 33 per cent stake.

The Government is consulting brokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell. The firms and the Treasury declined to comment. One City source said: ‘we are all on tenterhooks’.

It is not yet clear whether Hunt will set out the scale or timing of a sale even if he confirms such a move in the Budget.

UK Government Investments, which manages the taxpayer stake, has said it could come as soon as June.

Tim Jacobs, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘NatWest has generated strong interest from clients and we’d expect this to grow rapidly. The discount offered is going to be a major factor in how well the offer gets away.’

NatWest – then known as RBS – was given a £45billion bailout by the taxpayer during the financial crisis in 2008. 

That left the Government with more than 80 per cent of the lender, a stake that has been whittled down, though it remains the biggest single shareholder.