The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved re-appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as MD, CEO of IndusInd Bank for a period of one year with effect from March 24, 2025, according to an exchange filing. However, the extension falls short of the bank board’s recommendation of a three year tenure for Kathpalia.
This is the second time that the RBI refused a three-year term for Kathpalia. In March 2023, the RBI had approved the re-appointment of Kathpalia as IndusInd Bank MD, CEO for two years as against the board’s approval for three years. The banking regulator typically approves three-year tenure for bank chiefs.
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Kathpalia was first appointed as IndusInd Bank CEO in 2020. He has over 37 years of experience in large multi-national banks such as Citibank, Bank of America and ABN AMRO prior to joining Induslnd Bank. At IndusInd Bank, he has been part of the core leadership team and joined the bank 17 years ago.
He is responsible for the bank’s overall business strategy & execution, financial management, managing investor relations, mergers & acquisitions, evaluation of inorganic growth opportunities, digitisation, compliance and governance.
Financial results
The private bank had reported 39 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) fall in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December at ₹1,402 crore, led by higher provisions and operating expenses.
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Fresh slippages or bad loans rose to ₹2,200 crore in Q3 from ₹1,798 crore last quarter. A total of ₹695 crore of fresh slippages emanated from microfinance loans, Kathpalia had told reporters. Overall, gross and net non-performing asset ratio (GNPA, NNPA) rose to 2.25 per cent and 0.68 per cent from 1.92 per cent and 0.57 per cent last year, respectively. Accordingly, provisions rose 80 per cent y-o-y to ₹1,743 crore in Q3.
The bank’s shares ended 3 per cent down at ₹936.80 apiece on the BSE today.
