The board of First Active is to meet tomorrow to review its strategy and its management structure.

The meeting, the second in a week, may produce further management changes.

Only last December, the beleaguered bank announced significant changes to its senior management team in an attempt to improve investor confidence.

Among those who might be considered for senior executive positions in any reshuffle are: Mr Cormac McCarthy, chief financial officer; Mr Richard Hoare, operations director; and Mr Tony Ward, UK director.

Outside candidates may also be considered for senior executive positions and among them could be Mr Philip Halpin, formerly of National Irish Bank, sources believe.

Mr Tony Shanahan, the deputy chief executive and Mr Paul Reville, director of human resources, who were assigned new roles at the last reshuffle, are not thought likely to move again.

The group chief executive is Mr John Smyth.

The former building society has yet to persuade investors of the validity of its future plans despite the previous shake-up and a widespread cost-cutting programme.

First Active shares closed yesterday at €2 or £1.58, down almost 30 per cent on the price at which they were floated last year.

The banks is also suffering from a widespread malaise among financial stocks.

Bank of Ireland this week hit a two-year low on its share price and AIB has also fallen significantly.

Nevertheless, analysts say the company has failed to show much vision or commitment to broadening its business base and it is still largely reliant on the domestic mortgage market.

It is understood that senior executives have been under considerable pressure for some months now because of the share price's poor performance. While the board is expected to announce changes following the meeting on Sunday, it is possible that decisions could take longer to reach and that an announcement may not take place until a later date. A similar meeting last Sunday did not produce any public announcements.

Market sources say First Active is very vulnerable to increasing competition in the market and, with its lack of scale and relatively high costs, it is not a particularly attractive target.

The cost-cutting measures announced in December were expected to cost First Active €26 million (£20.5 million) including a large redundancy package. They were expected to cut about €13 million a year from the cost base.

A strategic alliance or announcement that a new partner is taking a stake in the company would help the share price as would a continuation of the cost-cutting regime, analysts said.

The series of cost-cutting measures announced by the bank last month include closing 25 of its 76 branches with 175 job losses.

When implemented, the company will employ 700 people.