Mahindra Lifespace tumbles 8% after MD & CEO tenders resignation

Shares of Mahindra Lifespace Developers (MLDL) dropped 8 per cent to Rs 349.50 in Friday’s intra-day trade, after the company announced resignation of its current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO), Arvind Subramanian, with effect from May 22, 2023. Arvind Subramanian has been heading the company's operations since May 2020.

In his place, the Mahindra Group has appointed Amit Kumar Sinha as the new MD & CEO from May 23, 2023. He has already been working with the Mahindra Group as President, Group Strategy since April 2021 and has over 18 years experience. Earlier, he was a Senior Partner and Director with Bain & Company.

"Amit’s appointment is consequent to Arvind Subramanian’s decision to resign from MLDL, for personal reasons. The Mahindra Group strongly believes in the future growth potential of MLDL and is fully committed to scaling it to the next level," the company said.

The company has nearly trebled the annualised sales value to around Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 700 crore under the previous MD with clear traction across new business development.

According to analysts at ICICI Securities, a change in management would have a negative sentimental reaction on stock. Therefore, continuity of strategy will be key under new management, added analysts.

MLDL’s development footprint spans 32.97 million square feet of completed, ongoing, and forthcoming residential projects across seven Indian cities; and over 5,000 acres of ongoing and forthcoming projects under development/ management at its integrated developments/ industrial clusters across four locations.

While historically, most of the top-level positions in MLDL were filled by outsiders, the company now plans to groom leaders within the organisation, said analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"While this has already been implemented in other companies such as Mahindra Finance, it will soon be replicated in MLDL too. The company will strive for a strong internally groomed leadership team," the brokerage firm added.