With first quarterly loss in 19 years, IndusInd vows to set house in order

Sunil Mehta, non-executive chairman of IndusInd Bank, who addressed the analysts after the earnings for the fourth quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25), started with stating the obvious! "It is typically unusual for a part-time executive chairman to address investors and analysts," he said.

- MANOJIT SAHA & SUBRATA PANDA

It was unusual because the managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of an institution addresses the earnings call. However, that was not the case this time as IndusInd MD & CEO Sumant Kathpalia stepped down last month after taking responsibility for ₹1,960 crore accounting lapses in its derivatives portfolio. Deputy CEO Arun Khurana followed suit.

It did not end there. More skeletons tumbled out of the closet after accounting lapses were discovered in the microfinance portfolio. Today, following the board meeting, the bank said it "suspected" fraud and involvement of employees in its MFI businesses.

"The board is also in the process of taking necessary steps to assess roles and responsibilities, and fixing staff accountability," Mehta said.

All these meant the lender saw its first Q4 loss in 19 years at ₹2,329 crore.