MUMBAI: Private sector lenderAxis Bankon Thursday said that theReserve Bank of Indiahas approved there-appointmentof its chiefAmitabh Chaudhryfor three years. The bank’s board had applied in April to the RBI to seek Chaudhry’s reappointment for a third term.. “The Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for a period of three years w.e.f. January 1, 2025 till December 31, 2027 (both days inclusive),” the bank said in an exchange notification.. Chaudhry joined the bank in 2019, when it was facing a bad loan crisis. In the last six years Chaudhry has managed to steer the ship away from asset quality issues. He also strengthened the lender’s retail offerings, digital capabilities and commercial credit portfolio. The bank has also upped its offerings in the wealth management segment under Chaudhry’s watch.. Chaudhry was instrumental inAxis Bankacquiring Citi India’s retail portfolio in India which strengthened the lender’s position in the credit card and retail business.. “One of the major overhangs for Axis gets over, there were worries from some investors whether Amitabh will get full 3 year extension, that overhang gets cleared with RBI approval,” said Suresh Ganpathy of Macquarie Capital.. Axis Bank reported a 18% rise in September quarternet profitto Rs 6,918 crores on the back of strong trading income and low operating expenses. A Bloomberg analyst poll had pegged profits at Rs 6370 crore. The bank had reported profits of Rs 5863 crore.. Net interest income, a key source of income for banks grew to Rs 13,483 crore a growth of 9% year-on-year. Net interest margins for the September 2024 quarter on year basis eased to 3.99% versus 4.11% in the quarter last year.. “The current conditions present a lot of variables which are tough,” Amitabh Chaudhry, MD, Axis Bank had told reporters post the lender’s September quarter earnings call. “While we say we have excess liquidity on the other side the deposit rates are not coming down. There are clear guidelines in place on what credit-to-deposit ratio you can have. We are seeing some worsening of asset quality in some of the unsecured and some other asset classes. The interest rates demanded by good customers are also not increasing. In such an environment to be able to deliver a steady NIM, improve asset quality and take prudent provisions puts us in a different light.”. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
