LONDON: The UK's third largest banking group HBOS Plc. named its current chief operating officer Andy Hornby as its new chief executive to take over from James Crosby when he retires in July.
Hornby, 38, who joined the largest mortgage lender in 1999, had been long tipped for the job. He will be the youngest chief executive of a banking group and one of the youngest to head a FTSE100 company.
Hornby said he would focus on growing the business, a disciplined capital management and potentially more share buybacks, tight cost control and "targeted international expansion".
HBOS is also bringing in Benny Higgins, head of retail banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, to head its retail businesses.
Crosby, just 49, who had a long innings in the bank, had joined the erstwhile Halifax Building Society in 1994. He joined its board in 1997 and became its chief executive in 1999 and of HBOS in September 2001 when Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland. He oversaw the merger and managed the transition. During his tenure the bank's pre-tax profit doubled to 4.5 billion in four years through 2004.
An actuary, he said he had decided in the autumn that he should leave when the time was right for him. He said he had an outstanding successor and the management team was now stronger than ever. He said, "One should never overstay one's welcome. I do like the idea of not being carried out on my last legs. I would like to avoid that if possible. If there is a selfish dimension, it's that I still have time to do other things properly rather than as an afterthought."
He will continue to be an independent director of broadcaster ITV and the Financial Services Authority.
Hornby is Crosby's find and a CEO product. He had stints in Circle and Asda. He was chief operating officer of the bank since July 2005 and had earlier headed the bank's retail division. He is among a select band of CEOs to assume the top position at 38, who include Kate Swann at WH Smith, Belinda Earl at Debenhams and Adam Crozier at the Royal Mail.
Posted
on : Sun, 08 Jan 2006 08:05 GMT | Banking News
By : Rob Davis
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