Answering a query on KVS Manian’s exit, Ashok Vaswani, MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said that Manian doesn’t have any offer at the moment.
“To the best of my knowledge, Manian doesn’t have anything in his hand right now, to the best of my knowledge. Obviously, you’ll have to ask Manian that question, but I’m not aware of anything like that,” he said at a post results press conference on May 4.
“Manian wanted to pursue other opportunities in the financial sector… the timing made things a little difficult. He was with the company for a very long time,” Vaswani said.
Manian, a whole-time director and joint MD, resigned on April 30 with immediate effect to pursue other opportunities in the financial services space.
“I hereby tender my resignation from the services of Kotak Mahindra Bank for pursuing other opportunities in financial services that I am exploring. Consequently, I would also step down from the board of the bank,” he had said in the letter.
Manian had worked with Kotak Mahindra Bank for almost three decades. In the letter, he had also thanked Ashok Vaswani and wished him the best.
The RBI directive on Kotak Mahindra Bank has impacted the lender’s franchise and reputation even though its financial impact is expected to be minimal, Vaswani said on May 4. RBI had asked Kotak to stop adding clients digitally and issuing credit cards due to gaps in its IT infrastructure.
he Reserve Bank of India order, obviously, has had an impact both on our franchise (and) our reputation, which does not feel good,” Vaswani said. “…we are committed to coming back strongly; that’s our number one priority.”
After the RBI order and the resignation of joint managing director KVS Manian this week, analysts had expressed concerns that Kotak’s heavily digital business model meant the ban would hurt its medium-term growth, leading to a 16 percent drop in its share price over the past six trading sessions.
The bank will double its efforts, resources and money in addressing IT-related issues, Vaswani said, adding that the bank currently spends 10% of total expenditure on IT.
Over the past two years, the overall spending on the tech front has gone up, Vaswani said, adding “The bank will be hiring an external auditor to assess the overall technology architecture soon, as mandated by the RBI.”
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 18.22 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit or profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 4,133.30 in Q4FY24. Its net interest income (NII) in the fourth quarter was up 13 percent YoY to Rs 6,909 crore, while its net interest margin (NIM) rose by 5.28 percent compared to 5.22 percent in the previous quarter.
The board of directors of the Kotak Mahindra Bank has recommended dividend of Rs 2 per equity share having face value of Rs 5, for the year ended March 31, 2024, subject to approval of shareholders.
