Sovereign's CEO Out?

Sovereign Bancorp's board is meeting on Tuesday and could remove its long-time chairman and chief executive officer, Jay Sidhu.A top-50-ranked residential lender, the Rosemont, Pa.-based Sovereign is the nation's fourth-largest thrift, based on its holdings of single-family loans. Mr. Sidhu's possible removal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Joe Campanelli, president of the lender's New England division, has been mentioned as a possible interim successor. At deadline time, Mr. Sidhu could not be reached for comment. Spanish banking giant Banco Santander owns about 25% of the company, and there has been talk among investment bankers that eventually it might buy all of Sovereign. An analyst report by Sandler O'Neill notes that the thrift's "profitability metrics have been below peer median levels for quite some time." Still, Sovereign's shares were trading near their 52-week high of $24.62. Among residential servicers, Sovereign ranks 36th, with $18.5 billion in receivables. Sovereign can be found online at http://www.sovereignbank.com.