RBI approves Ittira Davis' appointment as Ujjivan SFB's new MD & CEO

Davis had a stint with Ujjivan SFB as its chief operating officer. He joined Ujjivan in March 2015 and headed the transition of Ujjivan's journey from a micro finance institution (MFI) to SFB

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Ittira Davis as the managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) for a one-year term effective January 14.

On December 6, the bank’s board had appointed Davis the MD & CEO for a three-year term from the date of approval of the RBI or such other period as may be approved by the central bank.

Ujjivan SFB, in a filing with BSE, said the special committee of directors, formed in September to oversee the operations and administration in the absence of MD & CEO, stood dissolved from January 13, 2022. The panel was formed after Nitin Chugh resigned as MD & CEO.

Davis had a stint with Ujjivan SFB as its chief operating officer. He joined Ujjivan in March 2015 and headed its transition from a microfinance institution (MFI) to an SFB.

A banker with over 36 years of corporate and investment banking experience, Davis has worked in the Middle East and Europe. He was with the Europe Arab Bank for more than two years till October 2012 as a managing director, corporate and institutional banking, before becoming its executive director.

Ujjivan SFB’s gross loan book rose 22 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16,600 crore at the end of December 2021 (Q3FY22). Sequentially, the loan book expanded 15 per cent from Rs 14,500 crore at the end of September 2021.

The total deposits rose 34 per cent to Rs 15,600 crore in December 2021 and they were sequentially up 10 per cent from Rs 14,100 crore at the end of September 2021. Its asset quality improved in the third quarter with gross non-performing assets (GN­PAs) declining to 10.5 per cent from 11.6 per cent in October 2021.

Ujjivan SFB had posted a net loss of Rs 274 crore in the second quarter of FY22 on erosion in interest margin and burden of provisions for stressed loans. Sequentially, its net loss was at Rs 233 crore in the June quarter of FY22. It had booked a net profit of Rs 96 crore in Q2FY21.