Yes Bank names Deutsche Bank's Gill as CEO to replace Kapoor

(Reuters) - India's Yes Bank said it won central bank approval to appoint Deutsche Bank India head Ravneet Singh Gill as the successor to controversial incumbent chief executive Rana Kapoor, sending the private sector lender's shares up sharply.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved Gill for joining Yes Bank by March 1, the lender said in a statement, adding that the Board will meet on Jan. 29 to finalise the interim transition.

The announcement follows a months-long tussle with the central bank over Kapoor's tenure at the firm that has triggered a plunge in Yes Bank's stock and caused several resignations from its board.

The RBI denied Kapoor an extension to his term twice last year without giving a reason for the decision and asked Yes Bank to find a new CEO by Feb. 1.

Shares of Yes Bank surged as much as 19.1 percent after the announcement in their sharpest intra-day jump since Sept. 2013. They ended 9.2 percent higher.

Yes Bank also posted a 7 percent fall in third-quarter net profit as it set aside higher provisions.

Net profit fell to 10.02 billion rupees ($140.73 million) in the three months to Dec. 31 from 10.77 billion rupees a year earlier. That missed analysts' average estimate of 10.60 billion rupees, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)