Bank to return 250 mln gbp excess capital to group (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 20 Jun - The UK retailer Sainsbury said it has reached an agreement to sell its core banking business comprising personal loan, credit card, and retail deposit portfolios to NatWest that through the deal will add around one million customer accounts.

NatWest said it expects to buy approximately 2.5 billion pounds of gross customer assets, comprising 1.4 billion of unsecured personal loans and 1.1 billion of credit cards balances, together with approximately 2.6 billion of customer deposits.

The transaction does not include Sainsbury's Bank's commission income businesses, including insurance, ATMs and travel money as these are capital-light and profitable businesses with a strong connection to Sainsbury's core retail offer.

Argos Financial Services is also not included in the transaction.

Sainsbury's said it expects its bank to return excess capital of at least 250 million pounds to Sainsbury's once the phased withdrawal from its Core Banking Business has been completed and the future model for Argos Financial Services is in place. Sainsbury's intends to return this capital to shareholders.

Core banking business customers are expected to transfer to NatWest in the first half of calendar year 2025.

NatWest said the transaction is expected to have a 20 basis point impact on its CET1 ratio upon completion and be EPS and RoTE accretive upon completion.

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(RADIOCOR) 20-06-24 08:41:10 (0156) 5 NNNN