CEO of regional bank resigns

Bank of Queensland today announced managing director and chief executive officer Stuart Grimshaw has resigned to pursue a new non-banking opportunity outside Australia.

Mr Grimshaw will leave BOQ at the end of August.

Chief operating officer Jon Sutton will take over as acting CEO from 1 September 2014 while the board conducts an internal and external search for a new chief executive.

Chairman Roger Davis said while the board was disappointed Mr Grimshaw had decided to leave, but they understood he was pursuing a unique opportunity and wished him well.

“The board would like to thank Stuart for the significant contribution he has made to BOQ since November 2011,” Mr Davis said.

“When Stuart joined, BOQ’s market capitalisation was $1.9 billion and he leaves having built a business capitalised at $4.4 billion and having generated total shareholder returns of around 75 per cent,” he said.

Mr Davis said BOQ had come a long way in its transformation and the board was comfortable its existing depth of management and established succession plans, designed for such contingencies, would enable a smooth transition.

“The executive team will continue to drive the business forward and deliver on our clear and simple four-pillar strategy: placing the customer in charge, growing the right way, finding a better way, and being loved like no other,” Mr Davis said.

“There are transparent targets in place around key metrics such as growth, costs and capital,” he said.

Mr Davis said the board wished to confirm that BOQ was on track to report 2013/2014 cash earnings after tax in line with BOQ’s assessment of the mean of analyst consensus estimates of $298 million.

2013/2014 results will be reported as scheduled on 9 October 2014.

Mr Grimshaw said he was proud of what BOQ had achieved during his tenure.

“BOQ has significantly improved its business fundamentals, including repairing the balance sheet and instilling new risk disciplines,” he said.

“A fundamental transformation is in full swing, ranging from the implementation of systems to help digitise our processes through to advocacy to create a level playing field through the Financial System Inquiry.”