Sustained inflation worries the big boss of the National Bank.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
“The inflationary context which directly affects the consumer is much greater than we would have thought at the start of the year. And inflation will be persistent, ”said Laurent Ferreira in an interview, on the sidelines of the virtual annual meeting of National Bank shareholders organized on Friday.
“The problem with inflation at the moment is linked to the geopolitical impact which is very difficult to quantify and control. We see this impact on the price of energy naturally, on the price of natural resources and on food,” he added.
“Every company should have a medium-term business plan, but given the macroeconomic uncertainty, you need to revise your assumptions and have a higher inflationary scenario. We always used 2% before in our inflation assumptions. Now, we are talking about more than 3% or 3.5% in the medium term. »
SCREENSHOT THE PRESS
Laurent Ferreira, President and Chief Executive Officer, Friday during the National Bank’s annual meeting of shareholders
Questioned also about the return to face-to-face work, Laurent Ferreira maintains that the Bank has always had a “very flexible” approach.
“We don’t tell our employees: you have to go back to the office. There is no minimum number of days in the office per week. In the context of the very tight job market where there are shortages, we, as employers, have to adapt well. And that’s what we’re doing,” said the banker, who was attending his very first annual meeting on Friday as president and chief executive officer of the National Bank.
“It is certain, however, that I encourage the world to come. Yes, we are effective at home, but coordination and innovation remain things that are not planned on Zoom. »
CEO of the bank since 1er November, Laurent Ferreira nevertheless believes that head offices have a responsibility to bring cities to life (restaurants, small cafés, etc.).
People who come to Montreal to work bring our city to life. We must all participate in this recovery.
Laurent Ferreira, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank
National Bank expects the first employees to start working in the new head office by the middle of next year. The move to the new building will take place gradually during the second half of 2023. Nearly 7,000 employees should eventually work in the 40-storey skyscraper, the construction of which was announced in 2018. Employees who worked at different locations in Montreal will thus be grouped together in a new building erected at the corner of rue Saint-Jacques and boulevard Robert-Bourassa.
No split in sight
If the CIBC announced this month the upcoming split of its action, the National Bank does not intend to do the same.
Splitting an action is not as popular as it has been in the past, underlines Laurent Ferreira. ” We will see. If the title [de la Banque Nationale] rises to a level similar to that of the CIBC, maybe the discussions would come back, but it is not part of our discussions today,” he said.
CIBC shares topped the $160 mark in Toronto earlier this year, while National Bank shares just ended the week at $93.28 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Following the departure of Manon Brouillette at the start of the year, the Board of Directors of National Bank welcomes a new director. Lynn Loewen was elected on Friday to an independent director position. This 60-year-old Westmount resident is chancellor of Mount Alison University and notably a member of the board of directors of Xplornet, a New Brunswick internet service provider.