CFO Tookey to be interim CEO at Lloyds Banking

2nd Nov 2011 07:46

Chief financial officer Tim Tookey is to sit in for António Horta-Osório as chief executive of Lloyds Banking while the hard-charging boss takes a well earned rest.Tookey's stint as chief executive is not expected to last beyond the end of the year, after which he will return to his previous role before moving on, as announced in September, to become chief financial officer at Friends Life, a division of insurance outfit Resolution.Horta-Osório is part-way through an ambitious transformational programme for the bank so it will not just be a case of Tookey minding the shop; one of the things he will have to guide is "Project Verde", the planned disposal of 632 branches. Reports indicate that the bank has been underwhelmed at the bids being put in by parties interested in buying the branches, and it is rumoured to be contemplating spinning off the branches as a separate entity and floating the new company on the stock market.Shares slipped back in the news, dipping to 29.05p, down 1.52p on the day.--jh