Standard Chartered shares still have potential to soar even after an 85% increase in the stock over the past year, according to CEO Bill Winters.
“I think we’ve got a lot further to go,” Winters said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland. “I mean, our share price has gone up because we’re making more money and our earnings are improving, and our earnings are improving because we’ve got some really good strategic positioning.”
“We’re still trading below book value, which doesn’t make any sense to me given the returns that we’re generating,” he added.
Last week, London-headquartered Standard Chartered reached a milestone as its shares traded for the first time above the level seen on Winters’ first day as CEO in June 2015.
As recently as last February, Winters said the bank’s share price was “crap”. At current prices, the bank is valued at about GBP26 billion ($43.44 billion).
Winters is the longest-serving CEO of a major UK bank. Asked about succession, he said that the lender had plenty of executives who could replace him, including CFO Diego De Giorgi, who joined the company last year.
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The bank’s chairman, Jose Vinals, will reach a nine-year limit on his term later this year. Winters there was a “deep bench on the board” as the company looks for a new chair.
