MUMBAI: Dhanlaxmi Bank shareholders voted Wednesday against the appointment of managing director and chief executive officer Sunil Gurbaxani, the private sector lender said in a statement from the stock exchange.
This follows Lakshmi Vilas Bank shareholders who voted against the appointment of seven directors, including S. Sundar as CEO and CEO of the bank.
Gurbaxani was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dhanlaxmi Bank for a three-year term, effective February 27, and has more than three decades of banking experience with State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ) and Axis Bank.
The vote took place at the bank’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, with just 9.5% of the vote in favor of his appointment. However, the shareholders approved the appointment of all the other directors by an overwhelming majority.
Dhanlaxmi Bank reported a net profit of ₹Rs 6.09 crore in the June quarter, down from ₹Rs 19.84 crore in the prior year period. The lender’s gross delinquency ratio stood at 6.89%, while the net non-performing asset ratio (NPA) stood at 2.18% as of June 30. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio was also above the regulatory requirement, at 13.94%.
On September 28, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed DK Kashyap, CEO of the central bank’s Bengaluru office, as additional director of the bank’s board of directors for a two-year term. This followed several exits that Dhanlaxmi Bank has seen in recent months. Sanjeev Krishnan, part-time president and independent director, resigned in June, with eight months remaining on his term.
The bank had said that Krishnan resigned, citing personal reasons. He was appointed to the bank’s board in February 2018. Krishnan had told Mint that the RBI had appointed him to effect a change of course at the bank, and he resigned after the bank made profits from ₹Rs 65.78 crore in fiscal year 2020.
Other directors such as KN Murali and G Venkatanarayanan also resigned from the board in June. Subsequently, the bank appointed G. Subramonia Iyer, Dr. (Capt.) Suseela Menon, G. Rajagopalan Nair and P. K Vijayakumar and all these appointments have been ratified by the shareholders.
Foreign portfolio investors have an 11.44% stake in the bank, while foreign portfolio investors ₹2,000,000 own 43.82% of its shares.
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