Lloyds' energetic, job-cutting chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is taking a break due to ill-health, the state-rescued British bank said today in a statement that came so suddenly his replacement was named only hours later.
Tim Tookey, the finance director who is due to leave early next year as part of a sweeping clearout of the bank's old guard, will take over until the 47 year-old boss's return, Britain's biggest retail bank said.
Mr Horta-Osorio has embarked on a plan to cut some 15,000 jobs to get crisis-hit Lloyds back on track since he took over as chief executive in March.
"Following medical advice Antonio Horta-Osorio is taking a temporary leave of absence from his duties as group chief executive ... Antonio is expected to return to his position before the end of the year," it said.
Lloyds shares were down by 4.4 per cent at 29.2 pence in mid-morning trade, making the stock the worst performer on Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index , which was up by 0.15 per cent.
One Portuguese recent newspaper interview with the former Santander executive described him as "the Mourinho of the finance world", a reference to the mercurial manager of Spanish football club, Real Madrid, and told of how when he broke his right wrist he learnt to play tennis with his left.
Described recently as as "intense and scary", Mr Horta-Osorio has enjoyed broad shareholder support for his actions.
"Investors thought that Horta-Osorio had the right strategy to turn Lloyds around," said SVM Asset Management fund manager Colin McLean. "However, investors would be reassured if his leave proves to be only a temporary and brief one," added Mr McLean, whose firm holds Lloyds shares.
Lloyds, which is some 40 per cent owned by the British government after a state-led bailout during the 2008 credit crisis, added it would discuss interim measures on who would assume Mr Horta-Osorio's functions at a board meeting today.
Mr Horta-Osorio took over as chief executive eight months ago after joining the group from Spanish-owned rival Santander UK at the end of last year.
Since arriving at Lloyds he has quickly embarked on a restructuring programme which has entailed plans to axe some 15,000 jobs, halve Lloyds' international presence and sell off some 630 retail bank branches.
His arrival has also seen the departure of Lloyds executives who were associated with the previous management led by former chief executive Eric Daniels.
In September, Lloyds announced that Mr Tookey would leave in early 2012, while former Lloyds retail banking head Helen Weir and insurance head Archie Kane have also stepped down.
A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Mr Horta-Osorio's workload had brought on his illness.
"He's been suffering from fatigue due to over-work," said the source.