CEO’s exit sparks a sell-off in PNB Housing Finance, stock falls 17%

Kolkata: Shares of PNB Housing Finance declined more than 17% Friday, in its worst fall since October 2018, after the sudden resignation of chief executive Girish Kousgi, who has built for himself a reputation of turning around struggling mortgage lenders.

He would leave the organisation on October 28, as per the firm's exchange filing. His resignation marked the third such top-level exit this fiscal, creating a leadership gap in the company. The stock ended at ₹811.15, down 17.3%. PNB Housing was the worst performer on its benchmark Nifty Smallcap 50 index, which ended 1.8% lower.

"Following the resignation of MD & CEO Girish Kousgi from PNB Housing Finance, the company's share price declined sharply on Friday, driven by the Street's concerns over his departure," said Gaurav Sharma, head of research at Globe Capital Market.


"This is due to his instrumental role in the company's turnaround, asset quality improvement, and growth. Kousgi was also credited with the turnaround of Can Fin Homes when he was the MD & CEO. The Can Fin Home shares had tanked over 7% on September 19, 2022, when he suddenly resigned to join PNB Housing Finance.

Arijit Malakar, equity research analyst, Ashika Stock Broking, said there are concerns around the quality of leadership, as under Kousgi, the share price rose from ₹370 in October 2022 to ₹1,200, driven by his innovative strategy and customer-centric approach.

While the NBFC reported strong first-quarter results with 18% retail loan growth and projected NIMs of 4% by FY27, quality of new leadership will be key to its execution," he said.

Shares of PNB Housing have declined nearly 27% in the last month, whereas the benchmark Smallcap 50 index is down 7.3%.

While in the short term the stock may remain volatile, analysts said the medium-term view remains positive. "We remain constructive on the company's strong fundamentals and expect performance to improve in the latter half of the year. We view the sell-off as more panic-driven and believe investors with 1-2 year horizons may consider this correction a buying opportunity," said Sharma.

Malakar advises new investors to adopt a wait-and-watch approach until the company provides greater clarity on its future plans.

The board of the mortgage lender assured stakeholders that the company would pursue growth under a new leadership team backed by its strong fundamentals and asset quality. The board has constituted a search panel for a new head.

The company is already looking to find a replacement for Dilip Vaitheeswaran, chief sales officer, who tendered his resignation on July 23. Vaitheeswaran was in charge of the prime housing segment. Earlier in the year, the company's business head for affordable housing resigned with effect from 19 May.

Incidentally, Kousgi is the third consecutive full-time MD & CEO of PNB Housing Finance who quit before the end of the scheduled term. Kousgi was appointed on October 21, 2022, for a four-year term.