Antonio Horta-Osorio's successor faces a tough job to make Lloyds an exciting investment again

Like Tony Blair, Antonio Horta-Osorio has done his 10 years. He can leave, declaring: my work here is done.

Having taken on a bank in the thick of the biggest financial crisis the world had seen since the 1930s, he will leave it with enviably low costs, safe-as-houses capital structure and a market position that seems unassailable.

Critics of his imperious style internally are legion. His rollockings are legendary, and I fear few there will mourn his passing.

But his achievement in turning this failing organisation around is massive.

It is hard to believe now, but in the early days of his tenure Lloyds’ peers seriously feared it could go bust.

One of “A-ho’s” first jobs was to reassure counterparties that the bank was good for the money they were trading with it.

Having culled overheads with a ruthlessness the industry has never seen on such a grand scale, Lloyds now has a cost-to-income ratio that is the envy of his old-bank peers.

Likewise, even in the thick of covid, he can promise shareholders returns on equity of 12-13%.

Again, Barclays, HSBC and RBS won’t thank him for that, as their analysts and shareholders regularly remind them of the fact that they’re nowhere near.

They also will never forgive him for rolling the dice on PPI.

For it was A-ho who decided to break ranks over what was the financial industry’s biggest mis-selling scandal since pensions in the 1980s.

He declared Lloyds was going to do the decent thing and compensate, triggering a claims bonanza totalling £40 billion.

Nobody suffered as much as Lloyds, and it was galling to see more than £20 billion of the benefits A-ho brought in going up in smoke.

The big question now, of course, is where his successor can take it next.

Costs may be set fair, but where is the growth?

Lloyds is entirely stuck in the UK – an economy set for pedestrian growth even before covid.

The virus will trigger a flood of defaults on top of the repayment holidays already being taken on customer loans.