Candidates lined up in case Lloyds chief still off by end of year

Mr Horta-Osorio, who became Lloyds chief executive in March, shocked the market last week with the news that he is suffering from fatigue due to overwork and is taking leave following medical advice.

Yesterday a spokesman for Lloyds said: “We have a contingency plan, as you’d expect a big organisation to do. We hope for the best for Antonio and we expect him back by the end of the year, but we also plan for the worst in case not.”

He declined to be drawn on who the possible replacements were.

Reports yesterday listed Richard Meddings, finance director of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, the former JP Morgan banker, and two Lloyds non-executive directors, David Roberts and Glen Moreno, as possible candidates.

Last week chairman of Lloyds Sir Win Bischoff said he was “very confident” that Mr Horta-Osorio would be back before the end of the year.

“I fully expect him (Mr Horta-Osorio) to be back in harness before the end of the year,” said Sir Win. “There can never be any guarantee on anything involving health but I am confident he will be back.”

He added that the last few days had been “a little bit tougher than normal”.

“This is a short period of time and Antonio will be back and we wish him all the very best for his quick recovery,” he said.

It is understood that Mr Horta-Osorio has gone to a medical facility where he will have no contact with the bank.

He was in the midst of implementing his strategic vision for the bank, which includes overseeing an EU-imposed sale of 632 branches and around 15,000 job losses.