Lloyds Picks HSBC Banker As Next CEO -- Update

By Simon Clark

Lloyds Banking Group PLC said Monday that HSBC Holdings PLC's Charlie Nunn will be its next chief executive, succeeding António Horta-Osório.

Mr. Nunn is the global head of HSBC's wealth and personal-banking unit. The 49-year-old British banker will leave a lender with global operations and a focus on Asia to lead a bank dedicated to the U.K. at a time when the country faces significant challenges recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and negotiating the uncertainty of exiting the European Union.

The U.K. economy is forecast to record its largest contraction in 300 years in 2020 and government borrowing will hit a peacetime record, the country's fiscal watchdog said last week. Lloyds's net profit fell 64% to 707 million pounds ($941 million) in the first nine months of the year as it set aside GBP4.1 billion in provisions for bad loans. The bank's shares have fallen 40% this year, compared with a 33% decline in the stock of HSBC.

"I feel particularly lucky to be joining Lloyds Banking Group at this important time," Mr. Nunn said in a statement.

Lloyds said in July that Mr. Horta-Osório planned to retire next year. The bank said Monday that Mr. Nunn's precise start date is unclear because his employment contract with HSBC includes a six-month notice period and up to six months of post-termination restrictions. If Mr. Horta-Osório steps down before Mr. Nunn starts then Chief Financial Officer William Chalmers will serve as acting CEO for the interim period, the bank said.

Mr. Horta-Osório has led Lloyds since March 2011, overseeing a massive overhaul of the bank in the wake of the global financial crisis. He returned the bank to private ownership.

HSBC separately said that Mr. Nunn will be replaced with Nuno Matos, who currently leads the bank's U.K. unit.

Write to Simon Clark at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 30, 2020 07:11 ET (12:11 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.