First loss means worst is over for Axis Bank as shares surge: analysts

Axis's CEO Sharma will step down at the end of 2018, more than two years before the proposed end of her term, after the regulator reportedly question the lender's performance

Axis Bank Ltd. jumped the most since 2013 as an unprecedented recognition of bad loans prompted investors to overlook the Indian lender’s first-ever loss.

Provisions climbed to 71.8 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in the three months ended March from 28.1 billion the previous quarter as an additional Rs 165 billion of fresh defaults were identified after the implementation of tighter regulations, the bank said in an exchange filing late Thursday. The Mumbai-based bank reported a loss of 21.9 billion rupees, the first in data going back to 2006, and compared with a Rs 6.62 billion profit predicted in a Bloomberg