Dhanlaxmi Bank shareholders reject appointment of statutory auditor

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Dhanlaxmi Bank on Thursday said its shareholders have rejected the appointment of statutory auditor P B Vijayaraghavan & Co.

The bank had listed four agendas at its annual general meeting held on Wednesday (September 29), of which two were passed.

The shareholders rejected the proposal of appointment of statutory auditors P B Vijayaraghavan & Co, Chartered Accountants, Chennai with 65.44 per cent votes cast against the ordinary resolution, Dhanlaxmi Bank said in a regulatory filing, disclosing the scrutiniser's report of the postal ballot.

They also rejected a proposal for authorisation to the board of directors to appoint and fix remuneration of branch auditors, with 65.44 per cent votes against the resolution.

"The resolutions 3 and 4 have not been passed by the shareholders of the bank," the filing said.

Resolutions 1 and 2 were passed with requisite majority. These related to the adoption of the audited financial statements for fiscal ended March 2021 and re-appointment of Gopinathan C K as a director, respectively.

In a separate filing on the summary of the proceedings of the 94th AGM, the South-based lender said G Subramonia Iyer, part-time chairman of the bank, chaired the meeting through video-conference (VC) from Mumbai.

P B Santhanakrishnan, partner of P B Vijayaraghavan & Co, statutory central auditors of the bank, joined through VC from Chennai, among others.

The chairman also informed the shareholders that the meeting is not concluded and adjourned for a month as per the September 29, 2021 order of the High Court of Kerala.

The court case relates to two writ petitions filed before the court by certain individuals citing non-placement of their candidature for directorship before the shareholders of the bank at the AGM.

The writ petitions were heard together by the High Court on September 28, 2021.

The court pronounced an interim order directing the bank to refrain from concluding the AGM on September 29.

However, the order did not preclude the bank from transacting the businesses included in the agenda of the meeting.

The High Court of Kerala also said in its order that after transacting the businesses included in the agenda of the AGM, the meeting should be adjourned to a day after one month.

The private sector lender posted a nearly 11.5 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 6.79 crore in the quarter ended June 30 of the current fiscal year. Total income fell more than 14 per cent to Rs 239.02 crore during Q1 FY22.

Its asset quality worsened as gross non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) rose to 9.27 per cent of the gross advances as of June 30, 2021, as against 6.89 per cent a year ago.

Dhanlaxmi Bank stock closed at Rs 16.10 apiece on BSE, up 0.94 per cent.