Pressure grows on Abbey's boss

SHARES in Abbey National have fallen sharply, adding to the pressure on chief executive Ian Harley, who is meeting key investors this week. Abbey, whose shares have lost heavily after its shock profits warning last Monday, shed a further 38p on THursday to close at 858p, the lowest level since September. Credit agency Standard & Poor's added to the gloom, cutting its rating on Abbey's long-term debt.

All this leaves the beleaguered Harley, who is hanging on to his job by his fingernails, with a lot of explaining to do as he meets the bank's largest investors. Since he took the helm in 1998, Abbey shares have underperformed the banking sector by 40%. Fund Managers BGI and Fidelity are the biggest Abbey investors. Each holds just more than 3% of the shares.