Federal Bank appoints Cognizant’s Rajesh Varrier as independent director

Bengaluru: on Friday appointed , president of global operations at , as an additional director (non-executive independent) on its board for three years, with immediate effect. The appointment comes as the Blackstone-backed lender announced its .

Shareholders will need to approve the appointment at the next general meeting or within three months, whichever is earlier, under SEBI listing rules, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

The South Indian Bank’s net profit rose 45% to Rs 1,386 crore in the September quarter, from Rs 952 crore a year ago. Net interest income rose 26.4% to Rs 3,153 crore from Rs 2,495 crore.

The bank said Varrier is not related to any of its directors. Varrier is also chairman and managing director of Cognizant India. He leads the company’s software engineering group and operational model globally.

He joined Cognizant in September 2024 from Infosys, where he was head of global services and Americas. He was earlier chief information and digital officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance.

of the bank rose 18% to Rs 9,211 crore from Rs 7,824 crore. Total expenditure rose to Rs 6,945 crore from Rs 6,180 crore, while operating expenses rose to Rs 2,418 crore from Rs 1,933 crore.

“This quarter marks several milestones for the Bank: our highest-ever profit,” said chief executive KVS Manian in the statement. He said the bank’s total business franchise has crossed Rs 6.4 lakh crore, with advances above Rs 3 lakh crore.

Gross and net NPAs are at their lowest in a decade, slippages are down 27% and provision coverage stands at 87%, the bank said. “We are growing faster while keeping the quality of the book intact,” Manian said.

Federal Bank shares closed at Rs 337, up 0.60%, on Friday.