First quarterly loss for IndusInd Bank in 19 years

MUMBAI: IndusInd Bank reported a quarterly loss of Rs 2,236 crore for the three months ending March 2025, reversing a net profit of Rs 2,346 crore in the same period a year earlier. It was the bank's first quarterly loss since March 2006.

This disclosure follows the abrupt exits of its chief executive and his deputy last month after the bank unearthed widespread irregularities in its foreign exchange derivatives and microfinance portfolio. The bank managed to record a profit of Rs 2,642 crore for FY25, which was 70% lower than Rs 8,950 crore in the previous year.

In filings to the stock exchange, the bank said internal and external reviews uncovered a fresh fraud where Rs 172.6 crore was wrongly booked as fee income in its microfinance arm. Broader discrepancies spanned derivative trades, income recognition, and the classification of assets and liabilities. The board now suspects fraud involving senior employees and has said it will file complaints with enforcement agencies.

Sunil Mehta, the bank's chairman, told analysts that the accounting of internal derivatives was discontinued from April 2024, following confirmation of irregularities by external reviewers. Additional audits found income was misclassified, loans wrongly categorized-leading to an under-provisioning of Rs 1,885 crore-and balances in "other assets" and "other liabilities" lacked substantiation. The bank also misbooked Rs 760 crore of interest income that should have been recorded elsewhere.

Mehta said that the board will "do whatever needs to be done and follow the due process of law without fear or favour to ensure accountability". He said that all issues were duly identified, duly addressed, and declared with stakeholders, and the new CEO would be starting with a fresh slate.

The statutory audit for FY25, conducted by MSK & Associates and Chokshi & Chokshi, reveals a damning litany of past lapses. Among the more serious findings was a write-off of Rs 1,960 crore in "accumulated notional profits" since FY2016 arising from internal trades, termed by the auditors a "prior period item." They also flagged the reversal of cumulative interest and fee income worth Rs 846.4 crore recorded during the year.

Auditors highlighted manual entries dating back several years that were netted off in the current year, amounting to Rs 595 crore. More seriously, they pointed out glaring lapses by former key management personnel.