Rahul Bajaj to step down as Bajaj Finance chairman; stock drops 6%

NEW DELHI: Rahul Bajaj, the current chairman of Bajaj Finance has decided to step down from his position at the end of this month, the company said in a regulatory filing.

“Rahul Bajaj, non-executive chairman of the company, having been at the helm since its inception in 1987 and the group for over five decades, as part of succession planning, has decided to demit the office with effect from close of business hours on July 31, 2020”, Bajaj Finance said in release.

He would, however, continue to serve the company as a non-executive non independent director, the company added.

Following this development, the stock fell further to Rs 3,220, down 6.43 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The shares of the firm were already trading in the red post its June quarter results earlier today.

Rahul Bajaj will be replaced by his son Sanjiv Bajaj who is currently the vice chairman of the company from August 1. He also chairs the board of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company with effect since 2013. At the same time he is also the MD of Bajaj Holdings & Investment.

Earlier in the day, Bajaj Finance posted a 19.40 per cent year-on-year (YoY) fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 962.32 crore for the quarter ended June 30.

The company said its business operations in Q1 FY21 were considerably impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent lockdown which remained in force for the most of the quarter. It has resulted in significantly lower business acquisition and constraints on recovery of overdues from customers.