Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma wants term cut from 3 years to 7 months after row

In an unusual move, Axis Bank Managing Director and CEO Shikha Sharma wanted her new term to be reduced to seven months from three-year tenure that has been approved by the bank's board.  Shikha Sharma, chief executive of India`s Axis Bank, has asked the bank`s board to shorten her next term at the helm of the bank, starting in June, to the end of December, the bank said on Monday.  The Axis Bank board has accepted her request for a shorter seven-month term (from June 1 to December 31, 2018), subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the bank said in a regulatory filing. Sharma would be completing her third term as MD and CEO of Axis Bank on May 31.

In a regulatory filing, the Axis Bank said on December 8 last year, the board had decided to reappoint Sharma as the Managing Director and CEO, for a period of three years with effect from June 1, 2018, subject to receipt of requisite approvals. The re-appointment, however, was yet to get the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"In this connection kindly note that Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank has requested the Board to reconsider the period of her re-appointment as the Managing Director and CEO of the Bank to be revised from June 1, 2018 up to December 31, 2018," the bank said. The filing did not elaborate why Sharma wanted her fourth term to be curtailed to seven months from three years.

The Board, the filing said, has "accepted" her said request, subject to the approval of the RBI. The private sector lender's NPAs jumped by over five-fold in recent financial years. The gross NPAs worth Rs4,110 crore at the end of March 2015 surged to Rs 21,280 crore at the end of March 2017. During the same period, the lender's net profit halved from Rs7,357.8 crore to Rs3,679.2 crore.