Last July, Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, told the BBC about the terrific time he had on a visit to the New York stock exchange. The welcome was “exemplary”, he enthused, and the locals even flew the Shell flag next to their own. “They [the NYSE officials] said we continue to value a company that provides us the energy we desperately need,” he continued, adding that he wouldn’t rule out moving Shell’s stock market listing to the US in time, an inflammatory suggestion given the general angst over the state of the London market.
Now he’s at it again. In remarks to Bloomberg published this week, he said Shell had “a location” – meaning London – “that clearly seems to be undervalued”. His beef is the perceived undervaluation of Shell’s shares versus those of New York-listed rivals Chevron and ExxonMobil. If the valuation gap doesn’t close, “we have to look at all options. All options,” he emphasised.
