The head of Abbey National's retail banking operation resigned unexpectedly yesterday, just hours after the UK bank warned it would slash its dividend and report its first ever pre-tax loss.

Abbey recently rejected a takeover approach from Bank of Ireland.

Mr Andrew Pople, 45, once tipped as a future chief executive of Abbey, announced he would be leaving his job as managing director of retail banking next month to seek a fresh direction.

His departure surprised the market not least because of Abbey's decision to refocus its business on personal financial services, which has been Mr Pople's area of responsibility.

His job was expected to be reduced as the bank restructures its three main divisions into one business.

Abbey's retail banking division has recently been punching below its weight in key areas such as mortgage lending.

In the first half of this year it took 6.8 per cent of net new mortgage lending, whereas its historic share is 12.5 per cent.

- (Financial Times Service)