Abbey National is expected to outline plans to split its business in two when it reports its full-year results later this month, it emerged yesterday.

It is thought the UK's sixth largest bank will run its core personal finance business as one unit and its loss-making businesses, such as its troubled wholesale banking division, as another.

The group's new chief executive Luqman Arnold, who was appointed in October, has made no secret of wanting the group to focus on its retail banking business, which offers products such as mortgages, current accounts and loans.

But it is thought he will give further details on February 26 on which businesses Abbey aims to sell off or close down in the long term.

An Abbey National spokeswoman said: "We have said we are focusing on UK personal finance and disposing of non-core businesses but we haven't made any comment on what these businesses will be and the timeline involved."

Problems at Abbey's wholesale division, which provides loans to corporate clients, were behind a shock profits warning made by the group in June, and later led to former chief executive Ian Harley being ousted.

Last week, Abbey became one of just two major lenders to announce they would be passing on some of the Bank of England's interest rate cut to borrowers, reducing its standard variable mortgage rate by 0.15 per cent to 5.79 per cent.