By Kristy Dorsey
The UK banking sector’s longest-serving chief executive will relinquish the helm at Lloyds next year after a decade in the post.
The departure of Antonia Horta-Osorio will coincide with that of the group’s chairman, Norman Blackwell, who will give up the chair “in early 2021” to Robin Budenberg. In a statement issued on the London Stock Exchange, Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds set June 30 as the “target date” for Mr Horta-Osorio to stand down.
“This planned leadership succession will allow a new chief executive to work with the new chair in the next stage of the group’s development and transformation,” Lloyds said.
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Mr Horta-Osorio joined Lloyds from Spanish lender Santander in March 2011, when the group’s finances were crumbling from the acquisition of HBOS during the financial crisis. His tenure has covered some of the most turbulent times in the history of the industry, during which he brought Lloyds out of state ownership through a series of cost-cutting and efficiency programmes.
At the time of the Portuguese banker’s arrival, Lloyds was 43% owned by the taxpayer following nearly £21 billion in Government bail-out funding. The strain led Mr Horta-Osorio to take temporary leave from the bank between November 2011 and January 2012.
Lloyds returned to profitability in 2014, and fully returned to private ownership in 2017. But that was not the end of the group’s turmoil, as it was also at the heart of the PPI mis-selling scandal that eventually cost Lloyds some £22bn.
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Lord Blackwell paid tribute to Mr Horta-Osorio’s “outstanding contribution” in driving “a period of massive and successful change”.
“During his tenure, he has overseen a comprehensive transformation of the group’s balance sheet, operations and customer propositions, including the repayment of the Government’s £21bn investment and evolution of the group into the UK’s largest digital bank,” Lord Blackwell said.
Mr Horta-Osorio said he had “mixed emotions” about stepping down, but will remain focused on completing the bank’s current strategic plan.
“I have been honoured to play my part in the transformation of large parts of our business,” he said. “I know that when I leave the group next year, it has the strategic, operational and management strength to build further on its leading market position.”
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