Warning over Lloyds ‘uncertainty’

FUND managers warned yesterday that if Lloyds Banking Group appoints a deputy to ease the workload of chief executive Antonio Horta‑Osorio when he returns to work it could trigger further investor uncertainty.

Horta-Osorio is off with stress, but the Lloyds’ board might appoint a chief operating officer who would effectively be a deputy to the Portuguese boss who is expected to return by the end of the year.

John Smith, fund manager Brown Shipley, said: “He is either chief executive or not. “They need to clear it up.”

David Miller at Cheviot Asset Management said: “To try and go for a partial answer, while better than nothing, is still not satisfactory.”

Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday confirmed its Bristol retail administration and call centre site in Bristol will close by December 2012 with the loss of 440 jobs. The bank flagged the closure when it announced 3,500 groupwide redundancies in September 2010.

The chancellor George Osborne said the government would publish its response to the Independent Commission on Banking’s report next month.