Dhanlaxmi Bank shares tank over 10% post-resignation of independent director Sridhar Kalyanasundram

Shares of private sector lender Dhanlaxmi Bank slipped over 10 per cent on the BSE, touching the day's low of Rs 26.3 apiece in Monday's morning trading session, thereby snapping a three-day winning streak. The stock came under selling pressure after the independent director of the company, Sridhar Kalyanasundram, resigned, levelling serious charges against the bank's board.

Kalyanasundaram, in his resignation letter dated September 16, charged the board and the executives with unethical conduct in the banking business with regard to the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for loans.

In his letter, Kalyanasundaram also alleged that there were a number of instances where his inputs had been "deliberately negated, avoided, or overruled by the other members of the board, just to support the belligerent attitude of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)."

Kalyanasundaram's letter added, "I have been recording my DISSENT at every meeting where it was attempted to be cleared either through a bulldozer approach or through an ambush approach [where the EIC proceedings would be attempted to be adopted at the next ensuing Board Meeting without even its ([IC) Minutes of the Meeting being prepared and agreed to].

"When this did not work, the people holding the power openly threatened me with being 'sacked from the Board'. The records of the Bank regarding the [IC proceedings from January 2023 till July 2023, when the last of such meetings were held, will stand witness to my stand."

At around 12:15 p.m., shares of Dhanlaxmi Bank were flat at Rs 29.24 apiece on the BSE. The market capitalisation of the company stood at Rs 739.81 crore. At close, stock recovered losses and closed over 4.58 per cent higher.

Dhanlaxmi Bank Q1 performance

Dhanlaxmi Bank logged a net profit of Rs 28.30 crore in the April-June quarter, mainly due to a decline in bad loans. The lender had posted a net profit of Rs 26.43 crore in the year-ago period.

The total income for the June quarter rose to Rs 5,857 crore against Rs 3,797 crore logged in the year-ago period. The bank's net interest income (NII) also increased to Rs 341.40 crore from Rs 236.82 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Dhanlaxmi Bank share price: Past performance

So far in 2023, the shares of the private sector bank have gained over 42 per cent against the Nifty50's rise of over 10 per cent.

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