The ‘swift’ clean-up by the interim management of IndusInd Bank will help rebuild trust in the private sector lender, Ashok Hinduja, Chairman of its promoter grouping IIHL, said on Thursday.
Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
Hinduja also affirmed IIHL’s commitment to support the bank with further capital, if required.
“I express my continued, unequivocal trust in the chairman and board of directors of the bank for their appropriate, swift actions in order to address discrepancies and attendant areas of concern,” Hinduja said in a statement.
The statement comes a day after the crisis-hit lender reported a Rs 2,329 crore loss in the March quarter, as the management went about recognising all the discrepancies that have been discovered in the recent past, and also acknowledged that frauds by employees had a role to play in it.
“This would lead to higher standards of transparency and governance, leading to rebuilding trust in the bank,” Hinduja opined.
“Noting that capital adequacy of the bank is “healthy”, Hinduja said IIHL is committed to infusing more capital for business growth, if required.
The bank’s interim management on Wednesday hinted that it may not be looking to raise additional capital, pointing to the core capital adequacy of over 15 per cent.
It can be noted that the promoter group has headroom to grow its stake to up to 26 per cent in the bank.
Hinduja said the actions have ensured that the bank’s business remains healthy, with robust capital adequacy, he added.
He also lauded the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for “addressing the issues in a very orderly manner with suitable guidance”.
The continued confidence of customers in the bank shows their trust in the institution, Hinduja said, adding that this trust “has always been upheld”.
“This shall be a new dawn with a sanitised slate to regain the position the bank enjoyed for many decades,” Hinduja said.
The IndusInd Bank scrip closed 1.82 per cent up at Rs 785.10 apiece on the BSE, as against a 0.79 per cent correction on the BSE on Thursday.
