SKS Microfinance shares surged 5 per cent today to its highest permissible level for the day — a day after the company’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Mr Vikram Akula, resigned from the board.
The scrip rose to as high as Rs 121.80, up 5 per cent from its previous close, within seconds of commencement of trading.
This was the highest permissible limit on the BSE for the stock, on which the exchange has imposed a five per cent circuit filter — a mechanism that limits any upward or downward movement in the share price by this margin.
The country’s only listed micro-finance institution said last night that Mr Akula would continue with SKS as a “consultant” till March 2012 and “assist with the transition’’.
SKS Microfinance did not give any reason for the resignation, which has come in the midst of huge losses suffered by it. The company said that Mr P.H. Ravikumar has been appointed as its interim Non-Executive Chairman.
The company said it was not offering any severance package to Mr Akula. However, it has signed certain non-compete and confidentiality agreements with him, who founded the company in December 1997 and made history when SKS IPO was overbought 14 times and was listed with 11 per cent premium over the issue price of Rs 985 in July 2010.